At one of our recent worship planning meetings, we were discussing what Christmas songs we would sing. We talked about “Good Christian Men Rejoice.” We discussed whether to change one word to reflect what we believed was the intent of the song – “Good Christians All Rejoice.” Whether you feel that is appropriate or not is not the intent of this article. I kiddingly said, “Well, I’m OK with that if we can write a new verse, Good Christian Women Submit.” Now if you know worship planning, it is made up of mostly women. They laughed with that suspicious little look in their eyes. ‘Is he serious?’ ‘Should a good Christian woman submit?’ The answer is YES. But before you get too worked up, let me finish. The same would be true for a man. Good Christian men should submit.
It’s an interesting word isn’t it? It comes with some baggage, because it brings up a debate that continues in the Church. But I don’t want to focus on that either. I want to talk about the importance of submission even though there is baggage with the word that has hindered us from understanding its importance.
I remember going to a wedding of one of my youth group kids. The entire message of the wedding was directed at the bride and her calling to ‘submit’. It was all about obeying, serving, and submitting to your husband. I was taken aback. Not a word directed at the husband and his role – just God’s call to her to submit. You can see how some of the baggage has come.
If I was to say to you, “You need to submit”, my guess is you would not receive that well. “Submit to you?” “Submit to anyone?” “That is demeaning and humiliating. I am an independent, free willed human being who does not need to submit to anyone.”
The truth is submission is demeaning and humiliating and it is exactly what we are called to do with Christ. Demean defined is “to lower in character, status, or reputation.” (Webster's Dictionary) Humiliation means “to reduce to a lower position in one’s own eyes or others’ eyes.” (Webster's) You can see why there is such negative baggage attached to these words. Who would want this? Who would want their reputation and status lowered? Who would want their position lowered in their own eyes or the eyes of others?
We are challenged with these terms because of our perspective of authority. To submit to another is to give up your authority and defer to theirs. You allow another to guide your life. You do what they say. You give up your own will and wants and obey another. This does not come naturally to us, does it? Let me say that again. This does not come naturally to us.
Jesus was humiliated and demeaned. Jesus submitted to the authority of another. For Jesus allowed himself to be “lowered in character, status, and reputation.” He was “reduced to a lower position in the eyes of others.” He became a human being, a baby dependent upon human beings to care for him. He died a real, physical, painful death he did not deserve.
Will you submit to him? Will you allow yourself to be demeaned and humiliated for Him? If you do submit, what is it you lose and what is it you gain?
Monday, April 28, 2008
Glory
Glory is to God what style is to an artist – each is so rich with the style of the one who made it that to the connoisseur it couldn’t have been made by anybody else, and the effect is staggering. The style of an artist brings you as close to the sound of his voice and the light in his eye as it is possible to get this side of actually shaking hands with him.
Glory is the outward manifestation of that hand in its handiwork just as holiness is the inward. To behold God’s glory, to sense his style, is the closest you can get to him this side of Paradise, just as to read King Lear is the closest you can get to Shakespeare.
(Buechner, Fredrick. "Wishful Thinking – A Theological ABC." Harper & Row, 1973, p. 30)
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The glory of God is the beauty and excellence of His manifold perfections. It is an attempt to put into words what God is like in His magnificence and purity. It refers to His infinite and overflowing fullness of all that is good. . . God’s glory is the perfect harmony of all His attributes into one infinitely beautiful and personal being.
(John Piper in sermon, "God Created Us For His Glory", based on Isaiah 43:1-7)
_______________________________________________
God’s glory is not confined to some outward sign which appeals to the senses, but is that which expresses his inherent majesty, which may or may not have some visible token.
The intrinsic worth of God, his ineffable (indescribable) majesty, constitutes the basic warning not to glory in riches, wisdom, or might but in God who has given all these and is greater than his gifts.
(Baker’s Dictionary of Theology. Baker, 1960, p. 237-37 )
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Glory and worship are two terms which dwell together especially when used as a verb. It is hard to make a distinction between our call to “glorify God” and to “worship God.” They are one in the same. However, the distinction comes as you consider the term as a noun from God’s perspective. God reveals His glory. Glory emanates from God and His majesty. It is important to make the distinction between glory as a verb (what we are called to do) and glory as a noun (what is seen and experienced in the presence of God – see Piper’s definition above). God’s glory (noun) can be seen in us because we are created in the image of God. As we seek to live for God, to make a name for Him (to glorify Him - verb), His glory (noun) is revealed through us.
All that we do, think, feel, etc. is meant to bring glory to God. We are meant to seek to make a name for God so that His glory can be revealed more and more throughout the world.
Finally, there is that interesting phrase we hear at funerals. “He has gone home to glory.” Colossians 3:4 says it this way, “When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.” We would understand that to mean heaven. But it is important to recognize the presence of God and therefore His glory. Isn’t that what heaven is? The presence of God and His glory with no veil – no sin – nothing covering/hiding His glory from being revealed. So to be in heaven is to be in God’s unveiled presence which is to be with Him in glory – His glory experienced and seen completely. What a glorious day that will be!
Glory is the outward manifestation of that hand in its handiwork just as holiness is the inward. To behold God’s glory, to sense his style, is the closest you can get to him this side of Paradise, just as to read King Lear is the closest you can get to Shakespeare.
(Buechner, Fredrick. "Wishful Thinking – A Theological ABC." Harper & Row, 1973, p. 30)
_______________________________________________
The glory of God is the beauty and excellence of His manifold perfections. It is an attempt to put into words what God is like in His magnificence and purity. It refers to His infinite and overflowing fullness of all that is good. . . God’s glory is the perfect harmony of all His attributes into one infinitely beautiful and personal being.
(John Piper in sermon, "God Created Us For His Glory", based on Isaiah 43:1-7)
_______________________________________________
God’s glory is not confined to some outward sign which appeals to the senses, but is that which expresses his inherent majesty, which may or may not have some visible token.
The intrinsic worth of God, his ineffable (indescribable) majesty, constitutes the basic warning not to glory in riches, wisdom, or might but in God who has given all these and is greater than his gifts.
(Baker’s Dictionary of Theology. Baker, 1960, p. 237-37 )
_______________________________________________
Glory and worship are two terms which dwell together especially when used as a verb. It is hard to make a distinction between our call to “glorify God” and to “worship God.” They are one in the same. However, the distinction comes as you consider the term as a noun from God’s perspective. God reveals His glory. Glory emanates from God and His majesty. It is important to make the distinction between glory as a verb (what we are called to do) and glory as a noun (what is seen and experienced in the presence of God – see Piper’s definition above). God’s glory (noun) can be seen in us because we are created in the image of God. As we seek to live for God, to make a name for Him (to glorify Him - verb), His glory (noun) is revealed through us.
All that we do, think, feel, etc. is meant to bring glory to God. We are meant to seek to make a name for God so that His glory can be revealed more and more throughout the world.
Finally, there is that interesting phrase we hear at funerals. “He has gone home to glory.” Colossians 3:4 says it this way, “When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.” We would understand that to mean heaven. But it is important to recognize the presence of God and therefore His glory. Isn’t that what heaven is? The presence of God and His glory with no veil – no sin – nothing covering/hiding His glory from being revealed. So to be in heaven is to be in God’s unveiled presence which is to be with Him in glory – His glory experienced and seen completely. What a glorious day that will be!
Spiritual Growth - Willard
The following are excerpts from an excellent resource by Dallas Willard called "The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus’ Essential Teachings on Discipleship." (HarperOne, 2006)
While the initiative in the revival and reformation of the soul originally comes from what lies beyond us, we are never merely passive at any point in the process. This is clear from the biblical imperatives to repent and to believe, and – for the person with new life already in them – to put off the old person and put on the new, to work out the salvation that is given to us, etc., etc. It is certainly true, as Jesus said to his friends, “apart from me you can do nothing”(John 15:5). But it is equally true for them that “If you do nothing, it will be without me.”
(150)
. . . Rather, I must learn and accept responsibility of moving with God in the transformation of my own personality. Intelligent and steady implementation of plans for change are required if I am to lose the incoherence of the broken soul and take on the easy obedience and fulfillment of the person who lives ever more fully within the Kingdom of God and the friendship of Jesus. (150)
. . . What is my plan? The answer to this question is, in general formulation: by practice of spiritual disciplines, or disciplines for the spiritual life. . . A discipline is an activity within our power – something we can do – that brings us to a point where we can do what we at present cannot do by direct effort. Discipline is in fact a natural part of the structure of the human soul, and almost nothing of any significance in education, culture, or other attainments is achieved without it. (150-151)
The aim of disciplines in the spiritual life – and, specifically, in the following of Christ – is the transformation of the total state of the soul. It is the renewal of the whole person from the inside, involving differences in thought, feeling, and character that may never be manifest in outward behavior at all. Indeed, solitude and silence are powerful means of grace. Bible study, prayer, and church attendance, among the most commonly prescribed activities in Christian circles, generally have little effect for soul transformation, as is obvious to an observer. If all the people doing them were transformed to health and righteousness by them, the world would be vastly changed. Their failure to bring about the change is precisely because the body and soul are so exhausted, fragmented, and conflicted that the prescribed activities cannot be appropriately engaged in and by and large degenerate into legalistic and ineffectual rituals. Lengthy solitude and silence, including rest, can make them very powerful.
But we must choose these disciplines. God will, generally speaking, not compete for our attention. If we will not withdraw from the things that obsess and exhaust us into solitude and silence, He will usually leave us to our own devices. (153-154)
Seeking was clearly, form the lives portrayed, a major part of life in Christ. The “doctrinal correctness alone” view of Christianity was, in practice, one of nonseeking. It was basically one of “having arrived,” not of continuous seeking, and the next essential stop on its path was heaven after death. . . Salvation by grace through faith was a life, not just an outcome, and the earnest and unrelenting pursuit of God was not “works salvation” but the natural expression of the faith in Christ that saves. Constant discipleship, with its constant seeking for more grace and life, was the only sensible response to confidence in Jesus as the Messiah. (217)
While the initiative in the revival and reformation of the soul originally comes from what lies beyond us, we are never merely passive at any point in the process. This is clear from the biblical imperatives to repent and to believe, and – for the person with new life already in them – to put off the old person and put on the new, to work out the salvation that is given to us, etc., etc. It is certainly true, as Jesus said to his friends, “apart from me you can do nothing”(John 15:5). But it is equally true for them that “If you do nothing, it will be without me.”
(150)
. . . Rather, I must learn and accept responsibility of moving with God in the transformation of my own personality. Intelligent and steady implementation of plans for change are required if I am to lose the incoherence of the broken soul and take on the easy obedience and fulfillment of the person who lives ever more fully within the Kingdom of God and the friendship of Jesus. (150)
. . . What is my plan? The answer to this question is, in general formulation: by practice of spiritual disciplines, or disciplines for the spiritual life. . . A discipline is an activity within our power – something we can do – that brings us to a point where we can do what we at present cannot do by direct effort. Discipline is in fact a natural part of the structure of the human soul, and almost nothing of any significance in education, culture, or other attainments is achieved without it. (150-151)
The aim of disciplines in the spiritual life – and, specifically, in the following of Christ – is the transformation of the total state of the soul. It is the renewal of the whole person from the inside, involving differences in thought, feeling, and character that may never be manifest in outward behavior at all. Indeed, solitude and silence are powerful means of grace. Bible study, prayer, and church attendance, among the most commonly prescribed activities in Christian circles, generally have little effect for soul transformation, as is obvious to an observer. If all the people doing them were transformed to health and righteousness by them, the world would be vastly changed. Their failure to bring about the change is precisely because the body and soul are so exhausted, fragmented, and conflicted that the prescribed activities cannot be appropriately engaged in and by and large degenerate into legalistic and ineffectual rituals. Lengthy solitude and silence, including rest, can make them very powerful.
But we must choose these disciplines. God will, generally speaking, not compete for our attention. If we will not withdraw from the things that obsess and exhaust us into solitude and silence, He will usually leave us to our own devices. (153-154)
Seeking was clearly, form the lives portrayed, a major part of life in Christ. The “doctrinal correctness alone” view of Christianity was, in practice, one of nonseeking. It was basically one of “having arrived,” not of continuous seeking, and the next essential stop on its path was heaven after death. . . Salvation by grace through faith was a life, not just an outcome, and the earnest and unrelenting pursuit of God was not “works salvation” but the natural expression of the faith in Christ that saves. Constant discipleship, with its constant seeking for more grace and life, was the only sensible response to confidence in Jesus as the Messiah. (217)
I Could Never Do That
This is one of the most truthful phrases ever spoken and one of the greatest irritations of my life.
I cringe when I hear someone says those words. “I could never do that.”
Granted, they are good to say about murder or some of the horrendous things people do to each other. We all should say these words.
However, I don’t hear them in that context. I hear them spoken when someone sees another do something difficult or courageous or inspiring. Then after watching what someone else has done another person says, “I could never do that.”
Here is what makes that phrase true. All of the courageous, difficult, inspiring things that have ever been done for the sake of another, we could not have done on our own. It is true that “we could never do that” when “that” is something for the sake of another. Here are a few examples in my own life.
I could never be the husband Alisa deserves.
I could never preach.
I could never love unselfishly.
I could never become humble.
I could never give anything way without expecting something in return.
I could never be the Dad John deserves.
I could never do that if it was up to me. I would fail. I have failed.
BUT, to continue to say these words as a follower of Jesus Christ ignores His presence and power within our lives. And really, what we are saying is not “I could never do that” but instead “I would never do that. I don’t want to, so I won’t.” It is not an issue of can or can’t when God is involved. It is an issue of will or want.
Paul says it as clearly as anyone. “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)
God can heal your marriage. God can heal the sick. God can speak through you. God can protect you from sin. God can take you to Africa. God can love the unlovable. God can give sight to the blind. God can give hope to the hopeless. God can. And because God can, so can we. We are His. He works through us. You could do that. You could do anything if it is what God wants you to do.
If God can, I can. Enough said.
I cringe when I hear someone says those words. “I could never do that.”
Granted, they are good to say about murder or some of the horrendous things people do to each other. We all should say these words.
However, I don’t hear them in that context. I hear them spoken when someone sees another do something difficult or courageous or inspiring. Then after watching what someone else has done another person says, “I could never do that.”
Here is what makes that phrase true. All of the courageous, difficult, inspiring things that have ever been done for the sake of another, we could not have done on our own. It is true that “we could never do that” when “that” is something for the sake of another. Here are a few examples in my own life.
I could never be the husband Alisa deserves.
I could never preach.
I could never love unselfishly.
I could never become humble.
I could never give anything way without expecting something in return.
I could never be the Dad John deserves.
I could never do that if it was up to me. I would fail. I have failed.
BUT, to continue to say these words as a follower of Jesus Christ ignores His presence and power within our lives. And really, what we are saying is not “I could never do that” but instead “I would never do that. I don’t want to, so I won’t.” It is not an issue of can or can’t when God is involved. It is an issue of will or want.
Paul says it as clearly as anyone. “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)
God can heal your marriage. God can heal the sick. God can speak through you. God can protect you from sin. God can take you to Africa. God can love the unlovable. God can give sight to the blind. God can give hope to the hopeless. God can. And because God can, so can we. We are His. He works through us. You could do that. You could do anything if it is what God wants you to do.
If God can, I can. Enough said.
God Knows
Do you feel the pressure to figure it out? When confronted with some dilemma or decision, we naturally seek to determine the best course of action. We weigh the pros and cons. We talk to people who are experts in the field. We read Consumer Reports or contact our financial planner. We may even call the pastor for help in determining what we should do. My guess is you’ve experienced what I’ve described and probably in some way (large or small) are experiencing it today. You have a decision to make or you face a dilemma which lacks an easy answer. You are wrestling with what to do. You think about it, talk about it, yet you still are unclear. Been there? Are you there today?
It is an ongoing reality of life where decisions need to be made and dilemmas come. And decisions and dilemmas are inevitable when we are in relationship with other human beings who have thoughts, feelings, plans, and wills.
Yet, followers of Jesus Christ have something we (can you believe it?) forget we have. We have God. He knows the answers to the questions we have. Doesn’t He? Doesn’t He know exactly what we need to do? Doesn’t He know exactly what questions we should ask? Doesn’t He know exactly what we need to hear and to do? God knows.
Maybe you are wrestling with your marriage and what needs to happen for you and your spouse to get back on track.
God knows.
Maybe you are facing a dilemma at work or even question your vocational calling.
God knows what you should do. He knows what your vocation should be.
Maybe you wonder about what to do with a lost family member or are facing brokenness within your extended family.
God knows.
Maybe you wonder what it really means to give your life – all that you have – for the sake of Jesus Christ. What does that mean? How do I live that out? Should I sell stuff, give stuff, go somewhere, write a check, etc.?
God knows.
Maybe you have no idea what it means to help another person see Jesus Christ. It all sounds good and churchy but have no idea HOW you live that out.
God knows.
And really God not only knows the answers to the questions you ask. He knows what you need far beyond what you understand. So maybe the answer doesn’t come as quick –God is doing something. Maybe you aren’t getting the direction you’d hoped for – maybe God is reminding you that it is not about what you WANT – "Thy will be done."
He not only longs to give you direction in this life, He longs to transform you. Often His methods are not exactly what we’d planned or hoped for, but God knows best. God knows best. And He longs for you to become who He’s created you to be not simply just existing to be your 'Holy Santa Claus.'
It’s like the classic line many of us have heard while being disciplined by our parents. “I’m only doing this because I love you.” God means it. So the answers may not come as quickly as we like. The road He places us upon may not be the road of our choice. But God knows. He knows you. He loves you.
So where should we turn throughout our days? Where should we go when we don’t know what to do? Who should be the first one we turn to? Who? The one who knows. God knows.
“I know the plans I have for you. . .” God says, “plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
Does your life reflect this truth? Why go it alone or without the one who really knows?
God doesn’t call us to live by certainty. He calls us to live by faith . . . IN HIM.
God knows.
It is an ongoing reality of life where decisions need to be made and dilemmas come. And decisions and dilemmas are inevitable when we are in relationship with other human beings who have thoughts, feelings, plans, and wills.
Yet, followers of Jesus Christ have something we (can you believe it?) forget we have. We have God. He knows the answers to the questions we have. Doesn’t He? Doesn’t He know exactly what we need to do? Doesn’t He know exactly what questions we should ask? Doesn’t He know exactly what we need to hear and to do? God knows.
Maybe you are wrestling with your marriage and what needs to happen for you and your spouse to get back on track.
God knows.
Maybe you are facing a dilemma at work or even question your vocational calling.
God knows what you should do. He knows what your vocation should be.
Maybe you wonder about what to do with a lost family member or are facing brokenness within your extended family.
God knows.
Maybe you wonder what it really means to give your life – all that you have – for the sake of Jesus Christ. What does that mean? How do I live that out? Should I sell stuff, give stuff, go somewhere, write a check, etc.?
God knows.
Maybe you have no idea what it means to help another person see Jesus Christ. It all sounds good and churchy but have no idea HOW you live that out.
God knows.
And really God not only knows the answers to the questions you ask. He knows what you need far beyond what you understand. So maybe the answer doesn’t come as quick –God is doing something. Maybe you aren’t getting the direction you’d hoped for – maybe God is reminding you that it is not about what you WANT – "Thy will be done."
He not only longs to give you direction in this life, He longs to transform you. Often His methods are not exactly what we’d planned or hoped for, but God knows best. God knows best. And He longs for you to become who He’s created you to be not simply just existing to be your 'Holy Santa Claus.'
It’s like the classic line many of us have heard while being disciplined by our parents. “I’m only doing this because I love you.” God means it. So the answers may not come as quickly as we like. The road He places us upon may not be the road of our choice. But God knows. He knows you. He loves you.
So where should we turn throughout our days? Where should we go when we don’t know what to do? Who should be the first one we turn to? Who? The one who knows. God knows.
“I know the plans I have for you. . .” God says, “plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
Does your life reflect this truth? Why go it alone or without the one who really knows?
God doesn’t call us to live by certainty. He calls us to live by faith . . . IN HIM.
God knows.
Does God ever give up?
Ever since raising the question of “Does God ever give up on anyone?” I’ve wrestled with this question. I received some helpful feedback including difficult questions like, “What about Sodom and Gomorrah or the flood or even the fact that hell exists? Aren’t these clear indications that God has given up?" Are they?
First, it’s true isn’t it that God loves all people. His love is constant and never changes. And if that is true, how could He ever give up on one He loves? Just the fact that His love remains is an indication He hasn’t given up.
The prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) rejects his father and leaves home. The father never gives up. He allows the son to do what he pleases. But his love remains. He never gives up. He can’t force his son to love him or stay home. So he doesn’t. He just hopes he’ll return someday.
Second, I’d suggest that one way to consider this question is to recognize that God allows people freedom to do as they please. And this includes the freedom to sin and to experience the consequences of this sin. One of these consequences is death. It is what we all deserve and whether it happens while we are young or old, it is God’s right to end our lives as a consequence of sin. And sadly, in a fallen world, death comes in tragic ways as a consequence of sin. In a broken world filled with broken people, brokenness happens.
I don’t believe God ever gives up. I do believe some of us do. We give up on God. We walk away. God’s love remains, but He allows us to experience life apart from God. And as indicated throughout Scripture, eternal separation from God (hell) is a real possibility for all of us if we choose to reject God. We give up on God and he allows us to do it. We get what we think we want.
It’s like a broken marriage where one party wants to make it work and does what it takes for this to happen. But if the other party has given up and walks away, what can a person do? You don’t give up, but you are forced to live in a relationship where another has given up. That’s not a relationship.
Finally, this brings to mind the challenge of seeing God as loving and merciful but also as just and jealous. We want God to be about love and mercy. We want to ignore and tone down the justice and the wrath. But we can’t. These exist together. God is just. He does punish. But He also expresses perfect love (even through His justice and wrath). He is merciful.
I appreciated the following comments from an article I found on the internet that helps illustrate this challenging question.
Noah’s Ark is one of the first Bible stories we learn as children . . .
Don’t be fooled: Noah’s Ark is one of the darkest and most heart-wrenching stories in the Bible.
It opens promisingly enough. After Noah’s birth, Lamech prophesies that “out of the ground that the Lord has cursed this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.” Man has been aching under his curse, and Noah will be a savior that helps turn things around.
Meanwhile, God is not pleased with his creation. He’s an artist who had high hopes for a painting, but after struggling with it for far too long finally decides to trash the thing. With a look of disgust, he growls, I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them. All the beauty of creation, all the wonder of Genesis 1, all the creative energy – all for nothing. He has given up on us; the artist grips the canvas to tear it to shreds.
And then he sees one tiny corner of the painting that really did embody the vision he had when he started the project. Everything else is a mess, every other bit is absolute garbage, but “Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” The artist takes a deep breath, and resolves to give the painting another try.
However, this involves painting over everything else but the little corner and starting almost from scratch.
I’m continually struck by how the fate of creation is bound up with the fate of humanity. God says, “cursed is the earth because of you,” over and over again. First it was thorns and thistles, then utter fruitlessness, and now the earth is engulfed by the crushing chaos of the sea. Back to day one. The only memory of all the previous work drifts precariously atop the waves: a lone ship in an eternal ocean.
On the seventh month the ark rests on the tops of the mountains, and on the third month after that earth is again seen rising from the waters. It’s a type of new creation. The dove Noah sends out brings fresh hope, and he and his family and the animals leave the ark to replenish the earth.
God looks again at his fledgling creation, and commits himself anew to the project. He puts the rainbow in the sky and says “this is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.” He acknowledges that “the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth,” but that’s just something that will need to be dealt with. God intends to mold this thing into what it was meant to be, and he’s not going to destroy it again.
from "God gives up on us . . . almost" (Genesis 5-10)
(found at http://wondersforoyarsa.blogspot.com/2006/06/god-gives-up-on-us-almost-genesis-5-10.html)
First, it’s true isn’t it that God loves all people. His love is constant and never changes. And if that is true, how could He ever give up on one He loves? Just the fact that His love remains is an indication He hasn’t given up.
The prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) rejects his father and leaves home. The father never gives up. He allows the son to do what he pleases. But his love remains. He never gives up. He can’t force his son to love him or stay home. So he doesn’t. He just hopes he’ll return someday.
Second, I’d suggest that one way to consider this question is to recognize that God allows people freedom to do as they please. And this includes the freedom to sin and to experience the consequences of this sin. One of these consequences is death. It is what we all deserve and whether it happens while we are young or old, it is God’s right to end our lives as a consequence of sin. And sadly, in a fallen world, death comes in tragic ways as a consequence of sin. In a broken world filled with broken people, brokenness happens.
I don’t believe God ever gives up. I do believe some of us do. We give up on God. We walk away. God’s love remains, but He allows us to experience life apart from God. And as indicated throughout Scripture, eternal separation from God (hell) is a real possibility for all of us if we choose to reject God. We give up on God and he allows us to do it. We get what we think we want.
It’s like a broken marriage where one party wants to make it work and does what it takes for this to happen. But if the other party has given up and walks away, what can a person do? You don’t give up, but you are forced to live in a relationship where another has given up. That’s not a relationship.
Finally, this brings to mind the challenge of seeing God as loving and merciful but also as just and jealous. We want God to be about love and mercy. We want to ignore and tone down the justice and the wrath. But we can’t. These exist together. God is just. He does punish. But He also expresses perfect love (even through His justice and wrath). He is merciful.
I appreciated the following comments from an article I found on the internet that helps illustrate this challenging question.
Noah’s Ark is one of the first Bible stories we learn as children . . .
Don’t be fooled: Noah’s Ark is one of the darkest and most heart-wrenching stories in the Bible.
It opens promisingly enough. After Noah’s birth, Lamech prophesies that “out of the ground that the Lord has cursed this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.” Man has been aching under his curse, and Noah will be a savior that helps turn things around.
Meanwhile, God is not pleased with his creation. He’s an artist who had high hopes for a painting, but after struggling with it for far too long finally decides to trash the thing. With a look of disgust, he growls, I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them. All the beauty of creation, all the wonder of Genesis 1, all the creative energy – all for nothing. He has given up on us; the artist grips the canvas to tear it to shreds.
And then he sees one tiny corner of the painting that really did embody the vision he had when he started the project. Everything else is a mess, every other bit is absolute garbage, but “Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” The artist takes a deep breath, and resolves to give the painting another try.
However, this involves painting over everything else but the little corner and starting almost from scratch.
I’m continually struck by how the fate of creation is bound up with the fate of humanity. God says, “cursed is the earth because of you,” over and over again. First it was thorns and thistles, then utter fruitlessness, and now the earth is engulfed by the crushing chaos of the sea. Back to day one. The only memory of all the previous work drifts precariously atop the waves: a lone ship in an eternal ocean.
On the seventh month the ark rests on the tops of the mountains, and on the third month after that earth is again seen rising from the waters. It’s a type of new creation. The dove Noah sends out brings fresh hope, and he and his family and the animals leave the ark to replenish the earth.
God looks again at his fledgling creation, and commits himself anew to the project. He puts the rainbow in the sky and says “this is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.” He acknowledges that “the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth,” but that’s just something that will need to be dealt with. God intends to mold this thing into what it was meant to be, and he’s not going to destroy it again.
from "God gives up on us . . . almost" (Genesis 5-10)
(found at http://wondersforoyarsa.blogspot.com/2006/06/god-gives-up-on-us-almost-genesis-5-10.html)
My Trip to Kenya
Africa. It is a long ways away – both in travel and sadly often in mind and heart.
Africa is a continent made up of 53 countries, each with their own government/dictator, culture, climates, language(s), geography, and challenges. Three entire continental United States could fit into the country of Africa. It is huge.
I went to Kenya for ten days with Heart for Africa, so understand my perspective is extremely limited. I saw one country and very few people. But here is what I found. (Granted, all that follows are generalizations, but bear with me, for with the vast majority of the people I interacted with, I found these to be true.)
There is much to celebrate. God is alive and moving within Africa. Kenya is considered a Christian country. Many of the people I met are not consumed with materialism, individualism, and consumerism. They see God as the source of what they have. They believe God answers their prayers. They give glory to Him. They know how to worship not only in Spirit but with voice and body and movement. They pray out of their dependence upon God to meet their needs. They are willing to go and give their lives for His sake. They have a vision to reach the world with the Gospel. They are not waiting for us to come to do it for them. They are relying on God. Some are giving their lives to spread the Gospel. Some have committed their lives to reach kids on the street and orphans. Some are leaving their families and countries to go and tell others what Jesus has done in their lives.
It was not hard for me to see the face of Jesus in the people I met in Kenya.
However, there is much to mourn. People really do die everyday (especially children) from the lack of food, water, and preventable/treatable diseases. The numbers of children who are orphaned is staggering and continues to grow. AIDS is destroying families, communities, entire generations, and even countries. (And if you think for one moment that AIDS is God’s judgment against immorality, then you are greatly misinformed. The majority of those who contract AIDS are innocent victims.) Kids (ages 5 – 17) live on the street and fend for themselves. Hundreds of thousands in Kenya alone. Millions in Africa. Too many churches have rejected the street kids as worthless and sub-human. Many women are seen as property and are expected to do the lion’s share of the work including caring for the children. Children often cannot afford to go to school and/or they have to stay home to work.
There is much I saw and experienced that breaks my heart and grieves the heart of Jesus.
You can make a difference. One person helping one person can make a difference. One person praying for another can make a difference. I saw the fruit of the labor of others.
For many in Africa, they cannot even reach the first rung of the ladder – the ladder of hope – the ladder to adequate food and clean water – the ladder to education – the ladder to self-sustainability and even economic growth. They live surviving day-to-day. Most days they have one meal (not at all nutritious but at least they eat something). Some days they do not. Most days their children get fresh water after walking for hours. Most days they are not beaten. Some days they are. Many have no source of income because Dad has died. Many children have no parents and live with Grandma because Mom and Dad have died. So they try and survive and the ladder is too high.
With help, they can reach the first rung of the ladder. And believe me, the people I met want to climb. They are not lazy. They will work. They will do whatever it takes to help their children and grandchildren. They just need a boost. Will you give them one? Will you help?
I saw the results of a little boost. I saw people thriving because someone helped them get a cow. I saw families lives changed because they received the gift of a water tank which collects rain water. I saw people climbing by themselves from one rung to the next because someone had planted a garden filled with nutritious, anti-oxidant filled vegetables. And what I saw that stood out the most to me was HOPE. There was hope for the future. There was hope for their children. There was the clear and abiding sense that tomorrow was going to be better than today.
And every single person who I saw experiencing this hope gave the glory to Jesus Christ. They believed He heard and answered their prayers. He was the source of the cow and the water tank and the garden and the HOPE. He provides everything we need. They didn’t say it because it is the right thing to say as Christians. They believed it with every ounce of their being and in the depths of their soul. Jesus Christ is the way. He is the truth. He is where life is found. There is always HOPE because of Him. They depend on Him.
I have a lot to learn from the people I met in Kenya. I was blessed to see Jesus in them.
Africa is a continent made up of 53 countries, each with their own government/dictator, culture, climates, language(s), geography, and challenges. Three entire continental United States could fit into the country of Africa. It is huge.
I went to Kenya for ten days with Heart for Africa, so understand my perspective is extremely limited. I saw one country and very few people. But here is what I found. (Granted, all that follows are generalizations, but bear with me, for with the vast majority of the people I interacted with, I found these to be true.)
There is much to celebrate. God is alive and moving within Africa. Kenya is considered a Christian country. Many of the people I met are not consumed with materialism, individualism, and consumerism. They see God as the source of what they have. They believe God answers their prayers. They give glory to Him. They know how to worship not only in Spirit but with voice and body and movement. They pray out of their dependence upon God to meet their needs. They are willing to go and give their lives for His sake. They have a vision to reach the world with the Gospel. They are not waiting for us to come to do it for them. They are relying on God. Some are giving their lives to spread the Gospel. Some have committed their lives to reach kids on the street and orphans. Some are leaving their families and countries to go and tell others what Jesus has done in their lives.
It was not hard for me to see the face of Jesus in the people I met in Kenya.
However, there is much to mourn. People really do die everyday (especially children) from the lack of food, water, and preventable/treatable diseases. The numbers of children who are orphaned is staggering and continues to grow. AIDS is destroying families, communities, entire generations, and even countries. (And if you think for one moment that AIDS is God’s judgment against immorality, then you are greatly misinformed. The majority of those who contract AIDS are innocent victims.) Kids (ages 5 – 17) live on the street and fend for themselves. Hundreds of thousands in Kenya alone. Millions in Africa. Too many churches have rejected the street kids as worthless and sub-human. Many women are seen as property and are expected to do the lion’s share of the work including caring for the children. Children often cannot afford to go to school and/or they have to stay home to work.
There is much I saw and experienced that breaks my heart and grieves the heart of Jesus.
You can make a difference. One person helping one person can make a difference. One person praying for another can make a difference. I saw the fruit of the labor of others.
For many in Africa, they cannot even reach the first rung of the ladder – the ladder of hope – the ladder to adequate food and clean water – the ladder to education – the ladder to self-sustainability and even economic growth. They live surviving day-to-day. Most days they have one meal (not at all nutritious but at least they eat something). Some days they do not. Most days their children get fresh water after walking for hours. Most days they are not beaten. Some days they are. Many have no source of income because Dad has died. Many children have no parents and live with Grandma because Mom and Dad have died. So they try and survive and the ladder is too high.
With help, they can reach the first rung of the ladder. And believe me, the people I met want to climb. They are not lazy. They will work. They will do whatever it takes to help their children and grandchildren. They just need a boost. Will you give them one? Will you help?
I saw the results of a little boost. I saw people thriving because someone helped them get a cow. I saw families lives changed because they received the gift of a water tank which collects rain water. I saw people climbing by themselves from one rung to the next because someone had planted a garden filled with nutritious, anti-oxidant filled vegetables. And what I saw that stood out the most to me was HOPE. There was hope for the future. There was hope for their children. There was the clear and abiding sense that tomorrow was going to be better than today.
And every single person who I saw experiencing this hope gave the glory to Jesus Christ. They believed He heard and answered their prayers. He was the source of the cow and the water tank and the garden and the HOPE. He provides everything we need. They didn’t say it because it is the right thing to say as Christians. They believed it with every ounce of their being and in the depths of their soul. Jesus Christ is the way. He is the truth. He is where life is found. There is always HOPE because of Him. They depend on Him.
I have a lot to learn from the people I met in Kenya. I was blessed to see Jesus in them.
Relationships
“The Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone. . .” Genesis 2:18
Isn’t this the truth? It is not good for any of us to be alone. Now we may wonder at times. We may find it easier at times to avoid relationships. All of us have experienced the difficulty of relationships with other human beings. We’ve struggled in our family, at our jobs, even in the church. People can be difficult. So can you.
All of us have been hurt by others, some severely. We know what it is to be rejected, lied to, and betrayed. We know what it is to have our trust broken, our needs ignored, and our efforts taken for granted. It makes you wonder why any of us invest at all in each other.
We invest because we have to. It is how we’ve been created. It is amazing to think that after God finished creating the world, the animals, and this lone man, it wasn’t enough. God in his infinite wisdom recognized the man’s need - our need. It is not good for us, for you, to be alone.
Yet, some of us choose this path even though it goes completely contrary to our needs. We think meaning and contentment can be found in our jobs or our stuff or in the pursuit of hobbies. We think it is enough that the Lions win or we get a promotion or we purchase that brand new car. We think meaning can be found at the mall or in our bowling league or even just sitting in a pew at a church. We invest all sorts of time in activities that take us away from relationships or put us in situations with lots of people, but very little meaningful interaction. Think of the people you spend a lot of time with. Do you really know them? Do you know their passions, their hurts, their dreams? Have you really seen who they are? Do they really know you?
I wonder how many marriages struggle because of this reality. We coast in relationships, even in our marriages. We spend lots of time together but hardly any time developing or growing our relationship. Watching TV does not bring you closer together. Eating without talking does not bring you closer together. Participating in activities does not guarantee that your relationship will develop.
We’ve learned to keep ourselves very busy, taking advantage of all the opportunities that come. Yet many of these decisions keep us from really getting to know people. Instead they fill our time and distract us from a lot of what is most important.
Why do so many people struggle with loneliness, depression, and relational disorders? It is often because their primary need, their need for connection, is not being met. We are created to be in relationship. We can’t function apart from the help, encouragement, accountability, love, care, and communication that are found in relationships where we care about each other enough to do the hard work of growing the relationship.
We are created in the image of God. We can reflect his essence. The essence of God is relational. Within Him are Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is relational, personal. So are we. And isn’t it amazing that God knew we needed each other? He knew that for us to see Him, we need to see Him through the reflection we can see in each other. God is seen in the gift of the man, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came to establish a relationship with us. God is seen as we seek to allow Jesus to share Himself through us.
Isn’t this the truth? It is not good for any of us to be alone. Now we may wonder at times. We may find it easier at times to avoid relationships. All of us have experienced the difficulty of relationships with other human beings. We’ve struggled in our family, at our jobs, even in the church. People can be difficult. So can you.
All of us have been hurt by others, some severely. We know what it is to be rejected, lied to, and betrayed. We know what it is to have our trust broken, our needs ignored, and our efforts taken for granted. It makes you wonder why any of us invest at all in each other.
We invest because we have to. It is how we’ve been created. It is amazing to think that after God finished creating the world, the animals, and this lone man, it wasn’t enough. God in his infinite wisdom recognized the man’s need - our need. It is not good for us, for you, to be alone.
Yet, some of us choose this path even though it goes completely contrary to our needs. We think meaning and contentment can be found in our jobs or our stuff or in the pursuit of hobbies. We think it is enough that the Lions win or we get a promotion or we purchase that brand new car. We think meaning can be found at the mall or in our bowling league or even just sitting in a pew at a church. We invest all sorts of time in activities that take us away from relationships or put us in situations with lots of people, but very little meaningful interaction. Think of the people you spend a lot of time with. Do you really know them? Do you know their passions, their hurts, their dreams? Have you really seen who they are? Do they really know you?
I wonder how many marriages struggle because of this reality. We coast in relationships, even in our marriages. We spend lots of time together but hardly any time developing or growing our relationship. Watching TV does not bring you closer together. Eating without talking does not bring you closer together. Participating in activities does not guarantee that your relationship will develop.
We’ve learned to keep ourselves very busy, taking advantage of all the opportunities that come. Yet many of these decisions keep us from really getting to know people. Instead they fill our time and distract us from a lot of what is most important.
Why do so many people struggle with loneliness, depression, and relational disorders? It is often because their primary need, their need for connection, is not being met. We are created to be in relationship. We can’t function apart from the help, encouragement, accountability, love, care, and communication that are found in relationships where we care about each other enough to do the hard work of growing the relationship.
We are created in the image of God. We can reflect his essence. The essence of God is relational. Within Him are Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is relational, personal. So are we. And isn’t it amazing that God knew we needed each other? He knew that for us to see Him, we need to see Him through the reflection we can see in each other. God is seen in the gift of the man, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came to establish a relationship with us. God is seen as we seek to allow Jesus to share Himself through us.
Christmas Letters
Here they come. It is an interesting part of Christmas, isn’t it – the sending and receiving of Christmas letters? There is also quite a variety that you receive. Here are a few of the categories in which I place these letters:
1) The tell everything to the point of irritation Christmas letter. You know this one, don’t you? This is the four-pager with no pictures, just words. This one documents the life of every member of the family with an extra paragraph about the person writing the letter. This one often includes unhealthy, human-like references to the pets. “Rover has had a fruitful year this year as he has made new friends in the neighborhood.” Rover the dog has had a fruitful year? Rover has eaten, slept, played and REPEAT. Rover is a dog. These are the letters I open and then groan. I set them aside until I have a free twenty minutes and quickly scan them. By the time you are done reading the letter, you are glad Christmas only comes once a year.
2) The picture of the kid(s) letter. Yep, all the parents had time for was a quick run to Target to make 50 pictures that say, “Peace on Earth” with a picture of the children in red clothes. The Sauer’s have been guilty of this one. The pictures are usually my favorite part of any Christmas letter, because you can see how the kids are growing up. You don’t get any information about their lives – no idea how they or the kids are doing. Just a picture with a nice, brief ‘Christmasy’ message.
3) The ‘just the facts’ Christmas letter. This contains raw data. There is no emotion. It is just what each person did or will do. It is like reading a brief resume about each member of the family. “Billy went to camp in Minnesota in July with his friend Ronnie and they learned how to tie slip-knots. Billy did well in school and enjoys making pizza with his Dad. Billy is learning a lot in third grade . . .” You get the picture. As I read these types of letters, I keep asking out loud, “but how did that make you feel? Did you have fun? What made you laugh this year? How are you and your family really doing?”
4) The look what we did last year letter. I know this isn’t on purpose, but it is hard not to be cynical. This is the letter filled with all the things you wish you could do. “This past year we went to Europe for a month, and then took a cruise to Alaska. We happened to win the lottery and Steve made the Duke basketball team. Crissy just landed a job with ESPN and gets us free tickets to all the sporting events. Oh yeah, after Christmas we’re leaving for a family trip to the Bahamas. We hope you have a Merry Christmas.” I know, I need to be more excited for the good that people experience. But it is hard not to be jealous.
5) The “We know what matters” letter. I love this one. This one shares the proper amount of information about what is going on in the family and includes the joys and trials they’ve experienced over the past year. There is clearly a desire within the letter to express love and concern for you. And more often than not, these are letters which contain a heartfelt desire for Christmas to be about Christ. There isn’t a simple statement at the end of the letter acknowledging Christ, there is a love for you woven into the letter which can only come from a person who is seeking to see the world and you as Christ does. I love these letters because they point me toward Christ while celebrating His work in the hand of this family.
I do love Christmas letters. I did exaggerate a little in my stereotyping. I am now afraid to let you read ours to see what category you’d place it in.
1) The tell everything to the point of irritation Christmas letter. You know this one, don’t you? This is the four-pager with no pictures, just words. This one documents the life of every member of the family with an extra paragraph about the person writing the letter. This one often includes unhealthy, human-like references to the pets. “Rover has had a fruitful year this year as he has made new friends in the neighborhood.” Rover the dog has had a fruitful year? Rover has eaten, slept, played and REPEAT. Rover is a dog. These are the letters I open and then groan. I set them aside until I have a free twenty minutes and quickly scan them. By the time you are done reading the letter, you are glad Christmas only comes once a year.
2) The picture of the kid(s) letter. Yep, all the parents had time for was a quick run to Target to make 50 pictures that say, “Peace on Earth” with a picture of the children in red clothes. The Sauer’s have been guilty of this one. The pictures are usually my favorite part of any Christmas letter, because you can see how the kids are growing up. You don’t get any information about their lives – no idea how they or the kids are doing. Just a picture with a nice, brief ‘Christmasy’ message.
3) The ‘just the facts’ Christmas letter. This contains raw data. There is no emotion. It is just what each person did or will do. It is like reading a brief resume about each member of the family. “Billy went to camp in Minnesota in July with his friend Ronnie and they learned how to tie slip-knots. Billy did well in school and enjoys making pizza with his Dad. Billy is learning a lot in third grade . . .” You get the picture. As I read these types of letters, I keep asking out loud, “but how did that make you feel? Did you have fun? What made you laugh this year? How are you and your family really doing?”
4) The look what we did last year letter. I know this isn’t on purpose, but it is hard not to be cynical. This is the letter filled with all the things you wish you could do. “This past year we went to Europe for a month, and then took a cruise to Alaska. We happened to win the lottery and Steve made the Duke basketball team. Crissy just landed a job with ESPN and gets us free tickets to all the sporting events. Oh yeah, after Christmas we’re leaving for a family trip to the Bahamas. We hope you have a Merry Christmas.” I know, I need to be more excited for the good that people experience. But it is hard not to be jealous.
5) The “We know what matters” letter. I love this one. This one shares the proper amount of information about what is going on in the family and includes the joys and trials they’ve experienced over the past year. There is clearly a desire within the letter to express love and concern for you. And more often than not, these are letters which contain a heartfelt desire for Christmas to be about Christ. There isn’t a simple statement at the end of the letter acknowledging Christ, there is a love for you woven into the letter which can only come from a person who is seeking to see the world and you as Christ does. I love these letters because they point me toward Christ while celebrating His work in the hand of this family.
I do love Christmas letters. I did exaggerate a little in my stereotyping. I am now afraid to let you read ours to see what category you’d place it in.
The Irresistible Revolution - Claiborne
I’ve been challenged immensely by Shane Claiborne’s book, "The Irresistible Revolution." (Zondervan, 2006) Now you can too. Here are a few of the words I underlined and am wrestling with. Let’s wrestle together.
I wondered what it would look like if we decided to really follow Jesus. . . The hilarious words of nineteenth-century Danish philosopher Soren Kirkegaard resonated in my thirsty soul:
The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obligated to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever get on in the world? Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church’s prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you? Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament. (71-72)
We can admire and worship Jesus without doing what he did. We can applaud what he preached and stood for without caring about the same things. We can adore his cross without taking up ours. I had come to see that the great tragedy in the church is not that rich Christians do not care about the poor but that rich Christians do not know the poor. (113)
I truly believe that when the poor meet the rich, riches will have no meaning. And when the rich meet the poor, we will see poverty come to an end. (114)
For everything tries to pull us away from community, pushes us to choose ourselves over others, to choose independence over interdependence, to choose great things over small things, to choose going fast alone over going far together. The simple way is not the easy way. No one every promised us that community or Christian discipleship would be easy. There’s a commonly mistranslated verse where Jesus tells the disciples, “Come to me, all you are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me . . . For my yoke is good and my burden is light.” People take that to mean that if we come to Jesus, everything will be easy. (The word good is often mistranslated as “easy”). Ha, that’s funny. My life was pretty easy before I met Jesus. In one sense, the load is lighter because we carry the burdens of the world together. But he is still telling us to pick up a yoke. Yoke had a lot of different meanings. It was the tool used for harnessing animals for farming. It was the word used for taking on a rabbi’s teaching (as Jesus seems to use it here). Yoke was also the word used for the brutal weight of slavery and oppression that the prophets call us to break (Isaiah 58, among other passages). One of the things I think Jesus is doing is setting us free from the heavy yoke of an oppressive way of life. I know plenty of people, both rich and poor, who are suffocating from the weight of the American dream, who find themselves heavily burdened by the lifeless toil and consumption we put upon ourselves. This is the yoke we are being set free from. The new yoke is still not easy (it’s a cross, for heaven’s sake), but we carry it together, and it is good and leads us to rest, especially for the weariest traveler. (135-136)
But conversion means to change, to alter, after which something looks
different than it did before – like conversion vans or converted currency. We need converts in the best sense of the word, people who are marked by the renewing of their minds and imaginations, who no longer conform to the pattern that is destroying our world. Otherwise, we have only believers, and believers are a dime-a-dozen nowadays. What the world needs is people who believe so much in another world that they cannot help but begin enacting it now. . .
There is a kind of conversion that happens to people not because of how we talk but because of how we live. And our little experiments in truth become schools for conversion, where folks can learn what it means for the old life to be gone and the new life to be upon us, no longer taking the broad path that leads to destruction. Conversion is not an event but a process of slowly tearing ourselves from the clutches of the culture. (149-150)
Dr. Martin Luther King put it like this: “We are called to play the Good Samaritan on life’s roadside . . . but one day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that a system that produces beggars needs to be repaved. We are called to be the Good Samaritan, but after you lift so many people out of the ditch you start to ask, maybe the whole road to Jericho needs to be repaved.” (153)
When we talk of materialism and simplicity, we must always begin with
love for God and neighbor, otherwise we’re operating out of little more
than legalistic, guilt-ridden self-righteousness. Our simplicity is not an
ascetic denunciation of material things to attain personal piety, for if we
sell all that we have and give it to the poor, but have not love, it is
meaningless (I Cor. 13:3). And there are many progressive liberals who
have taught me that we can live lives of disciplined simplicity and still
be distant from the poor. We can eat organic, have a common pool of
money, and still be enslaved to Mammon (the personification of the
money god that Jesus named in the Gospels). Rather than being bound
up by how much stuff we need to buy, we can get enslaved to how
simply we must live.
Simplicity is meaningful only inasmuch as it is grounded in love, authentic
relationships, and interdependence. (162-163)
Generosity is a virtue not just for those with a special spiritual gifting
or an admirable philanthropic passion. It is at the very heart of our
rebirth. Popular culture has taught us to believe that charity is a virtue.
But for Christians, it is only what is expected. True generosity is
measured not by how much we give away but by how much we have
left, especially when we look at the needs of our neighbors. We have
no right not to be charitable. The early Christians taught that charity
is merely returning what we have stolen. In the seventeenth century,
St. Vincent de Paul said that when he gives bread to the beggars, he
gets on his knees and asks forgiveness from them. (164)
Gandhi: There is enough for everyone’s need, but there is not enough
for everyone’s greed. (170)
I am convinced that if we lose kids to the culture of drugs and
materialism, of violence and war, it’s because we don’t dare them,
not because we don’t entertain them. It’s because we make the
gospel too easy, not because we make it too difficult. Kids want to
do something heroic with their lives, which is why they play video
games or join the army. But what are they to do with a church that
teaches them to tiptoe through life so that can arrive safely at death?
(226)
Soren Kirkegaard puts it well: “To want to admire, instead of follow,
Christ is not an invention of bad people; no it is more an invention
of those who spinelessly want to keep themselves detached at a safe
distance from Jesus." (226)
The church is a place where we can stand up and say we are wretched,
and everyone will nod and agree and remind us that we are also
beautiful. (245)
I wondered what it would look like if we decided to really follow Jesus. . . The hilarious words of nineteenth-century Danish philosopher Soren Kirkegaard resonated in my thirsty soul:
The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obligated to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever get on in the world? Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church’s prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you? Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament. (71-72)
We can admire and worship Jesus without doing what he did. We can applaud what he preached and stood for without caring about the same things. We can adore his cross without taking up ours. I had come to see that the great tragedy in the church is not that rich Christians do not care about the poor but that rich Christians do not know the poor. (113)
I truly believe that when the poor meet the rich, riches will have no meaning. And when the rich meet the poor, we will see poverty come to an end. (114)
For everything tries to pull us away from community, pushes us to choose ourselves over others, to choose independence over interdependence, to choose great things over small things, to choose going fast alone over going far together. The simple way is not the easy way. No one every promised us that community or Christian discipleship would be easy. There’s a commonly mistranslated verse where Jesus tells the disciples, “Come to me, all you are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me . . . For my yoke is good and my burden is light.” People take that to mean that if we come to Jesus, everything will be easy. (The word good is often mistranslated as “easy”). Ha, that’s funny. My life was pretty easy before I met Jesus. In one sense, the load is lighter because we carry the burdens of the world together. But he is still telling us to pick up a yoke. Yoke had a lot of different meanings. It was the tool used for harnessing animals for farming. It was the word used for taking on a rabbi’s teaching (as Jesus seems to use it here). Yoke was also the word used for the brutal weight of slavery and oppression that the prophets call us to break (Isaiah 58, among other passages). One of the things I think Jesus is doing is setting us free from the heavy yoke of an oppressive way of life. I know plenty of people, both rich and poor, who are suffocating from the weight of the American dream, who find themselves heavily burdened by the lifeless toil and consumption we put upon ourselves. This is the yoke we are being set free from. The new yoke is still not easy (it’s a cross, for heaven’s sake), but we carry it together, and it is good and leads us to rest, especially for the weariest traveler. (135-136)
But conversion means to change, to alter, after which something looks
different than it did before – like conversion vans or converted currency. We need converts in the best sense of the word, people who are marked by the renewing of their minds and imaginations, who no longer conform to the pattern that is destroying our world. Otherwise, we have only believers, and believers are a dime-a-dozen nowadays. What the world needs is people who believe so much in another world that they cannot help but begin enacting it now. . .
There is a kind of conversion that happens to people not because of how we talk but because of how we live. And our little experiments in truth become schools for conversion, where folks can learn what it means for the old life to be gone and the new life to be upon us, no longer taking the broad path that leads to destruction. Conversion is not an event but a process of slowly tearing ourselves from the clutches of the culture. (149-150)
Dr. Martin Luther King put it like this: “We are called to play the Good Samaritan on life’s roadside . . . but one day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that a system that produces beggars needs to be repaved. We are called to be the Good Samaritan, but after you lift so many people out of the ditch you start to ask, maybe the whole road to Jericho needs to be repaved.” (153)
When we talk of materialism and simplicity, we must always begin with
love for God and neighbor, otherwise we’re operating out of little more
than legalistic, guilt-ridden self-righteousness. Our simplicity is not an
ascetic denunciation of material things to attain personal piety, for if we
sell all that we have and give it to the poor, but have not love, it is
meaningless (I Cor. 13:3). And there are many progressive liberals who
have taught me that we can live lives of disciplined simplicity and still
be distant from the poor. We can eat organic, have a common pool of
money, and still be enslaved to Mammon (the personification of the
money god that Jesus named in the Gospels). Rather than being bound
up by how much stuff we need to buy, we can get enslaved to how
simply we must live.
Simplicity is meaningful only inasmuch as it is grounded in love, authentic
relationships, and interdependence. (162-163)
Generosity is a virtue not just for those with a special spiritual gifting
or an admirable philanthropic passion. It is at the very heart of our
rebirth. Popular culture has taught us to believe that charity is a virtue.
But for Christians, it is only what is expected. True generosity is
measured not by how much we give away but by how much we have
left, especially when we look at the needs of our neighbors. We have
no right not to be charitable. The early Christians taught that charity
is merely returning what we have stolen. In the seventeenth century,
St. Vincent de Paul said that when he gives bread to the beggars, he
gets on his knees and asks forgiveness from them. (164)
Gandhi: There is enough for everyone’s need, but there is not enough
for everyone’s greed. (170)
I am convinced that if we lose kids to the culture of drugs and
materialism, of violence and war, it’s because we don’t dare them,
not because we don’t entertain them. It’s because we make the
gospel too easy, not because we make it too difficult. Kids want to
do something heroic with their lives, which is why they play video
games or join the army. But what are they to do with a church that
teaches them to tiptoe through life so that can arrive safely at death?
(226)
Soren Kirkegaard puts it well: “To want to admire, instead of follow,
Christ is not an invention of bad people; no it is more an invention
of those who spinelessly want to keep themselves detached at a safe
distance from Jesus." (226)
The church is a place where we can stand up and say we are wretched,
and everyone will nod and agree and remind us that we are also
beautiful. (245)
Holy Discontent
Holy discontent. Interesting phrase.
It is the title of Bill Hybel’s (pastor of Willow Creek – megachurch in Chicago area) most recent book and is subtitled 'Fueling the Fire That Ignites Personal Vision' (Zondervan, 2007).
The point of his book is that when we determine what we see in this world that is NOT RIGHT, we have insight into our holy discontent - the belief that God fills us with a righteous anger/passion towards those things we see that are not right. And we ought to do something about it.
Holy discontent is far more than being a complainer who sits in the stands and complains about what we see. That is NOT a holy discontent. That tends to come from self-righteousness or pride and does nothing to bring positive change to whatever we struggle with. No, holy discontent leads to action.
I believe that the motivating reason why millions of people choose to do good in the world around them is because there is something wrong in that world. In fact, there is something so wrong that they just can’t stand it. (23)
When people are struggling and there’s nowhere to turn for help . . . when kids are left parentless, adults are left homeless, families are left without food and water . . . when disease-infected patients are tossed out with yesterday’s trash . . . is this what you can’t stand? (36)
What can’t you stand?
Part of the challenge for us in North America is how easily it is to become isolated, insulated, distracted, and ignorant. Our news is filled with a steroids, the upcoming election, what movie star is in trouble, and how the stock market is doing. If we are honest, the truth is most of us are much more interested in the weather report tomorrow than we are in the state of those suffering around the world. There is no such thing as holy apathy or holy ignorance or holy complacency.
Hybels advice is that when you get an inkling as to your holy discontent, feed it. Don’t shy away. Jump in. If you sense a burden for the poor, go spend time with the poor. Go visit. If human suffering stirs you, then call any organization seeking to alleviate suffering and offer to help. If you can’t imagine a child being raised without a parent, prayerfully consider adoption. Read, read, read. Learn about the plight of those who you are drawn to.
“But the task is too large?” “There is too much to do.” “How can one person make any difference?” All of those excuses ignore God’s sovereignty in your life and the belief that your life can and will make a difference in the lives of others.
One of the quotes that continues to challenge me comes from Ghandi. He was asked about Christians and how they were doing in caring for the needs of the poor. Ghandi’s response:
Ask the poor. They’ll tell you who the Christians are.
About the time I was fleshing out my thoughts around the holy discontent concept, I came across a book written by University of Michigan business school professor Robert Quinn. It contained a theory that really resonated with me – something he called the “fundamental state” theory. Essentially, it says that when a person is gripped by a powerful passion (or driven by a holy discontent, you might say), he or she literally enters into a completely different state of mind; in fact, they shift mental gears altogether and begin operating on an entirely new level.
According to Quinn, people can actually migrate at will from what he calls the “normal state” to a place known as the “fundamental state.” This is helpful to know, especially since you may be stuck in the “normal state” without even knowing it. Here’s how to tell: in the normal state, you’re almost entirely
self-absorbed. You have a reactive approach to life. And you try to maintain the status quo, regardless how unbearable the status quo is. Professor Quinn puts it this way in his book, Building the Bridge as You Walk On It: “When we accept the world as it is (by living in the normal state), we deny our ability to see something better, and hence our ability to be something better. We become what we behold.
Accepting the world as it is.
Denying our ability to see something better.
Denying our ability to be something better.
This is life in the normal state.
What’s not normal, Professor Quinn says, is embracing the fact that another state exists.
“To remain in the normal state is ultimately to choose slow death,” asserts Quinn. The normal state is so self-seeking that you can spin your wheels for a lifetime and never once impact the world around you. In the fundamental state, however, people care so much about getting results that they begin to move and breathe in a totally different realm. They operate with intentionality. They act with massive doses of enthusiasm and persistence. They surrender their ego because the cause simply can’t afford their pride. They open themselves up to any and all new ideas and forms of input – regardless of where those suggestions come from.
People who operate in a “fundamental” state of mind concentrate at higher levels and focus more intensely because the goal they’re pursing demands it. They take risks they wouldn’t normally take . . . because they have to – there’s too much at stake not to! Their creativity kicks up a notch. Their energy soars. Their passion swells.
(117-119)
We cannot accept the world as it is. We have to see something better for those who struggle. And we have to believe that God longs to not only help us make a difference in the lives of others, but help us become something better – become more like Him.
It is the title of Bill Hybel’s (pastor of Willow Creek – megachurch in Chicago area) most recent book and is subtitled 'Fueling the Fire That Ignites Personal Vision' (Zondervan, 2007).
The point of his book is that when we determine what we see in this world that is NOT RIGHT, we have insight into our holy discontent - the belief that God fills us with a righteous anger/passion towards those things we see that are not right. And we ought to do something about it.
Holy discontent is far more than being a complainer who sits in the stands and complains about what we see. That is NOT a holy discontent. That tends to come from self-righteousness or pride and does nothing to bring positive change to whatever we struggle with. No, holy discontent leads to action.
I believe that the motivating reason why millions of people choose to do good in the world around them is because there is something wrong in that world. In fact, there is something so wrong that they just can’t stand it. (23)
When people are struggling and there’s nowhere to turn for help . . . when kids are left parentless, adults are left homeless, families are left without food and water . . . when disease-infected patients are tossed out with yesterday’s trash . . . is this what you can’t stand? (36)
What can’t you stand?
Part of the challenge for us in North America is how easily it is to become isolated, insulated, distracted, and ignorant. Our news is filled with a steroids, the upcoming election, what movie star is in trouble, and how the stock market is doing. If we are honest, the truth is most of us are much more interested in the weather report tomorrow than we are in the state of those suffering around the world. There is no such thing as holy apathy or holy ignorance or holy complacency.
Hybels advice is that when you get an inkling as to your holy discontent, feed it. Don’t shy away. Jump in. If you sense a burden for the poor, go spend time with the poor. Go visit. If human suffering stirs you, then call any organization seeking to alleviate suffering and offer to help. If you can’t imagine a child being raised without a parent, prayerfully consider adoption. Read, read, read. Learn about the plight of those who you are drawn to.
“But the task is too large?” “There is too much to do.” “How can one person make any difference?” All of those excuses ignore God’s sovereignty in your life and the belief that your life can and will make a difference in the lives of others.
One of the quotes that continues to challenge me comes from Ghandi. He was asked about Christians and how they were doing in caring for the needs of the poor. Ghandi’s response:
Ask the poor. They’ll tell you who the Christians are.
About the time I was fleshing out my thoughts around the holy discontent concept, I came across a book written by University of Michigan business school professor Robert Quinn. It contained a theory that really resonated with me – something he called the “fundamental state” theory. Essentially, it says that when a person is gripped by a powerful passion (or driven by a holy discontent, you might say), he or she literally enters into a completely different state of mind; in fact, they shift mental gears altogether and begin operating on an entirely new level.
According to Quinn, people can actually migrate at will from what he calls the “normal state” to a place known as the “fundamental state.” This is helpful to know, especially since you may be stuck in the “normal state” without even knowing it. Here’s how to tell: in the normal state, you’re almost entirely
self-absorbed. You have a reactive approach to life. And you try to maintain the status quo, regardless how unbearable the status quo is. Professor Quinn puts it this way in his book, Building the Bridge as You Walk On It: “When we accept the world as it is (by living in the normal state), we deny our ability to see something better, and hence our ability to be something better. We become what we behold.
Accepting the world as it is.
Denying our ability to see something better.
Denying our ability to be something better.
This is life in the normal state.
What’s not normal, Professor Quinn says, is embracing the fact that another state exists.
“To remain in the normal state is ultimately to choose slow death,” asserts Quinn. The normal state is so self-seeking that you can spin your wheels for a lifetime and never once impact the world around you. In the fundamental state, however, people care so much about getting results that they begin to move and breathe in a totally different realm. They operate with intentionality. They act with massive doses of enthusiasm and persistence. They surrender their ego because the cause simply can’t afford their pride. They open themselves up to any and all new ideas and forms of input – regardless of where those suggestions come from.
People who operate in a “fundamental” state of mind concentrate at higher levels and focus more intensely because the goal they’re pursing demands it. They take risks they wouldn’t normally take . . . because they have to – there’s too much at stake not to! Their creativity kicks up a notch. Their energy soars. Their passion swells.
(117-119)
We cannot accept the world as it is. We have to see something better for those who struggle. And we have to believe that God longs to not only help us make a difference in the lives of others, but help us become something better – become more like Him.
Why Pray?
Prayer says something very important to us and to God. Prayer says, “God is in charge. God is in control. God holds the power. God has the plan.” Prayer also says, “I am not in charge. I am not in control. I do not have the right plan.” Could this be why prayer is often so difficult in our lives? We falsely believe our plan is best. We falsely believe we actually are in control. We falsely believe that being in control of our lives is a good thing and passing control on to God is not.
Kids are often taught that prayer is simply talking to God. There is no magic formula or incantation. You don’t have to change the tone of your voice. You don’t even have to close your eyes. Prayer is conversation. Prayer is a dialogue. We talk to God. He talks to us.
There is also the challenge of the “perfect devotional plan” which hinders our devotional life because we feel we are always failing to meet the perceived expectations of God. God wants time with you – time where your attention is focused upon him – time where you talk and listen to Him – and time where that listening includes allowing God to speak to you through His Word.
This “perfect devotional plan” says we have to arise before the sun, prayer for an hour, read an entire book of the Bible, memorize it, feed the hungry, and enact world peace, while sitting in an uncomfortable chair, and finally making breakfast for our family by 7:00am. Since we can’t conceive it possible to live up to this plan, we do nothing.
Prayer is for you not God. God works in us as we pray. God helps us keep it all in perspective as we acknowledge before him our sin, our needs, our struggles, our love for him, and our recognition that our plan doesn’t work well, so we need God’s plan. God wants us to pray. He answers our prayers (sometimes yes, sometimes no, sometimes not yet, sometimes we never clearly understand or see His answer), but He promises to hear.
If you are stuck saying the same thing every time you pray, it may be time to expand your prayer time. One of the best ways to do that is to listen to others pray – to pray with others.
The statement, “I don’t pray out loud,” sounds good and humble, but that means you don’t pray with your spouse, your children, your family, your small group, your neighbors, etc. and that is not good. You need to learn how to pray for and with others. You need to pray out loud at times so people can actually hear you pray for them. Yes, it is uncomfortable and hard. Yes, it may take some practice. But that pretty much sums up what it is to follow Jesus – give up the comfortable and easy. Depend on God. Pray.
Kids are often taught that prayer is simply talking to God. There is no magic formula or incantation. You don’t have to change the tone of your voice. You don’t even have to close your eyes. Prayer is conversation. Prayer is a dialogue. We talk to God. He talks to us.
There is also the challenge of the “perfect devotional plan” which hinders our devotional life because we feel we are always failing to meet the perceived expectations of God. God wants time with you – time where your attention is focused upon him – time where you talk and listen to Him – and time where that listening includes allowing God to speak to you through His Word.
This “perfect devotional plan” says we have to arise before the sun, prayer for an hour, read an entire book of the Bible, memorize it, feed the hungry, and enact world peace, while sitting in an uncomfortable chair, and finally making breakfast for our family by 7:00am. Since we can’t conceive it possible to live up to this plan, we do nothing.
Prayer is for you not God. God works in us as we pray. God helps us keep it all in perspective as we acknowledge before him our sin, our needs, our struggles, our love for him, and our recognition that our plan doesn’t work well, so we need God’s plan. God wants us to pray. He answers our prayers (sometimes yes, sometimes no, sometimes not yet, sometimes we never clearly understand or see His answer), but He promises to hear.
If you are stuck saying the same thing every time you pray, it may be time to expand your prayer time. One of the best ways to do that is to listen to others pray – to pray with others.
The statement, “I don’t pray out loud,” sounds good and humble, but that means you don’t pray with your spouse, your children, your family, your small group, your neighbors, etc. and that is not good. You need to learn how to pray for and with others. You need to pray out loud at times so people can actually hear you pray for them. Yes, it is uncomfortable and hard. Yes, it may take some practice. But that pretty much sums up what it is to follow Jesus – give up the comfortable and easy. Depend on God. Pray.
Love of Money
Do you love money? Be honest. Would $10,000 be just what you need right now? Wouldn’t life be so much better if we all started with 1 million dollars coming out of high school? Isn’t it true that a little bit more money would make your life better? It’s hard not to believe this, isn’t it? We could pay off debt. We could buy that one item we’ve always wanted. We would just be happier if this was true. I have a hard time not believing this. I’m amazed at how often this thought comes, “If only I had a little bit more money, I would be all set. I would be happy.”
It’s hard to deny our love for money. Money isn’t bad. Rich people aren’t bad. But the love of money is bad. I Timothy 6:10 says,
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves
with many pains.
Why is a little love for money bad? First, the Bible says so. As a result, we should believe it. But the reason the Bible expresses the challenge of money is because it competes for our allegiance. We quickly move from worshipping God to worshipping money. We see money meeting the needs we have instead of God. We see how money gets us what we want. We see how it satisfies our hunger for stuff or comfort. We like the opportunities money gives us. We even believe it has more power than God. I can see what 1 million dollars can do for my life. I’m not sure if I can see what God can do.
If happiness is found in stuff, money is the answer. If happiness is found in exotic vacations, then money is the answer. If happiness is found in the security of a large portfolio, then money is the answer. If these are the places where you believe happiness lies, then money is your answer. Getting as much as possible should be your goal. Giving away as little as possible should be your goal. Your life’s purpose should be the acquisition of money, so that you can be happy.
Have you found happiness in stuff? Have you found happiness in exotic vacations? Have you found happiness in the right numbers on your portfolio statements? How’s life been for you with the purpose being to acquire as much money as possible? How do you feel about a life based on getting and acquisition versus a life based on giving?
There is just something inside us that knows this love of money is not right. There’s something about a life devoted to getting that doesn’t mesh with who we are.
We’ve been created to worship God, to devote our lives to Him. Happiness is worldly value. Joy is a gift from God. Joy can’t be bought. Joy comes from relationships not from stuff. People are more important than things, because we’ve been created to love people not stuff. We will never be at peace with ourselves or with God until we live as He created us to live and embrace whom he created us to be. We are created to serve, to give, to love.
It’s hard to deny our love for money. Money isn’t bad. Rich people aren’t bad. But the love of money is bad. I Timothy 6:10 says,
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves
with many pains.
Why is a little love for money bad? First, the Bible says so. As a result, we should believe it. But the reason the Bible expresses the challenge of money is because it competes for our allegiance. We quickly move from worshipping God to worshipping money. We see money meeting the needs we have instead of God. We see how money gets us what we want. We see how it satisfies our hunger for stuff or comfort. We like the opportunities money gives us. We even believe it has more power than God. I can see what 1 million dollars can do for my life. I’m not sure if I can see what God can do.
If happiness is found in stuff, money is the answer. If happiness is found in exotic vacations, then money is the answer. If happiness is found in the security of a large portfolio, then money is the answer. If these are the places where you believe happiness lies, then money is your answer. Getting as much as possible should be your goal. Giving away as little as possible should be your goal. Your life’s purpose should be the acquisition of money, so that you can be happy.
Have you found happiness in stuff? Have you found happiness in exotic vacations? Have you found happiness in the right numbers on your portfolio statements? How’s life been for you with the purpose being to acquire as much money as possible? How do you feel about a life based on getting and acquisition versus a life based on giving?
There is just something inside us that knows this love of money is not right. There’s something about a life devoted to getting that doesn’t mesh with who we are.
We’ve been created to worship God, to devote our lives to Him. Happiness is worldly value. Joy is a gift from God. Joy can’t be bought. Joy comes from relationships not from stuff. People are more important than things, because we’ve been created to love people not stuff. We will never be at peace with ourselves or with God until we live as He created us to live and embrace whom he created us to be. We are created to serve, to give, to love.
The Perfect Church
Let’s describe the perfect church (not necessarily in the eyes of Scripture), but if we had our say. Feel free to add other descriptions that come to mind.
- No one ever takes your seat.
- When the offering plate is passed, you take from it instead of putting in.
- Everyone thinks your preferred style of worship is the best.
- The church service doesn’t start until you arrive.
- Everyone wants to do church the way you like it.
- The pastor gives short, funny, meaningful, but-not-too-convicting sermons.
- Rice krispy treats are offered between and during every service.
- You always get to talk with the people you like.
- Your spouse gets the kids ready for church.
- Visitors fund the budget.
- The church focuses all of its energy and resources on meeting your needs.
- All of the other kids are nice to your kids.
- You are encouraged, affirmed, respected, always agreed with, and never challenged.
- You get what you want and give what you want.
- We skip confession and sin and talk only about grace.
- Love is what God gives – what you receive – and never the “tough” kind.
- Everyone thinks you are wise, good-looking, funny, and worthy of great respect (and of course are in awe of your children).
There is no perfect church. We worship a perfect God. But when sinful people get their hands on things, the imperfections become apparent. The truth about church is more like . .
- We are creatures of habit. There are NOT assigned seats.
- God calls us to give (not to fund budgets) but in response to what we’ve received.
- Worship is to bring glory to God NOT to sing the songs we like in the style we like.
- The church service starts when advertised. But being the church never stops.
- Church is continuing the ministry Christ began. Our preferences are natural but only helpful as they further the ministry of Christ.
- The pastor is seeking to serve God first. But the pastor must communicate God’s Word in a way people can understand.
- Rice krispy treats are by far the best – oops, I’m getting into MY preferences.
- We need to open ourselves up to new relationships and welcome visitors.
- It never works well when I spend time expecting my spouse to serve me.
- Meeting budget is not the ultimate goal. Giving as God desires and staying on mission are.
- The church is called to discipleship – to helping you see and follow Jesus. The church is called to meet your needs but these often get confused with wants. Sometimes what we need is not necessarily what we want.
- No one ever takes your seat.
- When the offering plate is passed, you take from it instead of putting in.
- Everyone thinks your preferred style of worship is the best.
- The church service doesn’t start until you arrive.
- Everyone wants to do church the way you like it.
- The pastor gives short, funny, meaningful, but-not-too-convicting sermons.
- Rice krispy treats are offered between and during every service.
- You always get to talk with the people you like.
- Your spouse gets the kids ready for church.
- Visitors fund the budget.
- The church focuses all of its energy and resources on meeting your needs.
- All of the other kids are nice to your kids.
- You are encouraged, affirmed, respected, always agreed with, and never challenged.
- You get what you want and give what you want.
- We skip confession and sin and talk only about grace.
- Love is what God gives – what you receive – and never the “tough” kind.
- Everyone thinks you are wise, good-looking, funny, and worthy of great respect (and of course are in awe of your children).
There is no perfect church. We worship a perfect God. But when sinful people get their hands on things, the imperfections become apparent. The truth about church is more like . .
- We are creatures of habit. There are NOT assigned seats.
- God calls us to give (not to fund budgets) but in response to what we’ve received.
- Worship is to bring glory to God NOT to sing the songs we like in the style we like.
- The church service starts when advertised. But being the church never stops.
- Church is continuing the ministry Christ began. Our preferences are natural but only helpful as they further the ministry of Christ.
- The pastor is seeking to serve God first. But the pastor must communicate God’s Word in a way people can understand.
- Rice krispy treats are by far the best – oops, I’m getting into MY preferences.
- We need to open ourselves up to new relationships and welcome visitors.
- It never works well when I spend time expecting my spouse to serve me.
- Meeting budget is not the ultimate goal. Giving as God desires and staying on mission are.
- The church is called to discipleship – to helping you see and follow Jesus. The church is called to meet your needs but these often get confused with wants. Sometimes what we need is not necessarily what we want.
The Whole Bible
A short quiz – See how you do.
Is Jonah a book of the Bible or just a story?
What is part two of the Gospel of Luke?
Is Zedekiah a book of the Bible?
Name two main characters found in II Samuel.
What is the significance of the word “covenant”?
What is the message of the Bible? How does the Old Testament fit into
your summary?
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. II Timothy 3:16-17
How should we approach the Bible? Is II Timothy true? Therefore, is every word of Scripture important for us to be exposed to?
Too often our approach to Scripture is similar to our approach at a church potluck. We scan all the options and only choose items we like. Now, in a potluck, that is appropriate and even expected, but this approach should not be used with Scripture. The Bible is the story of God’s redeeming work toward humankind. Imagine reading a novel where you skip around the book and read only a small minority of the chapters. You may have some idea about the plot and how the story ends, but you have no idea how it all comes together and how each character and event is significant in the story.
There is no trivial information in Scripture. There are no parts that are OK to skip. Instead, God desires to reveal Himself to you through the WHOLE story. Leviticus is crucial. So is Song of Solomon. So is Obadiah and Jude. And even the challenge of Revelation is a means by which God desires to reveal Himself and speak to us.
Two challenges:
1) Avoid the potluck approach. Focus on some of the content you’ve never
read before. Get some help. Find a commentary or survey which helps you better understand the summary of the book you read. Challenge your small group or Bible study or family to do this together. Be able to answer this question: How does (the book you choose) fit into God’s story? How is it an important part of His message?
2) Avoid the “mining for nuggets” approach. Sometimes we try and read between the lines of Scripture. We search for the hidden message or focus on minor details and try to make more of them than is intended. The Bible fits together and it is interesting to see how God has put his book together, but don’t look so deeply into the forest that you lose sight of how individual trees fit into the big picture.
For an overview of the story of the Bible, see Vaughan Robert’s book, “God’s Big Picture: Tracing the Storyline of the Bible.” (IVP, 2002)
Is Jonah a book of the Bible or just a story?
What is part two of the Gospel of Luke?
Is Zedekiah a book of the Bible?
Name two main characters found in II Samuel.
What is the significance of the word “covenant”?
What is the message of the Bible? How does the Old Testament fit into
your summary?
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. II Timothy 3:16-17
How should we approach the Bible? Is II Timothy true? Therefore, is every word of Scripture important for us to be exposed to?
Too often our approach to Scripture is similar to our approach at a church potluck. We scan all the options and only choose items we like. Now, in a potluck, that is appropriate and even expected, but this approach should not be used with Scripture. The Bible is the story of God’s redeeming work toward humankind. Imagine reading a novel where you skip around the book and read only a small minority of the chapters. You may have some idea about the plot and how the story ends, but you have no idea how it all comes together and how each character and event is significant in the story.
There is no trivial information in Scripture. There are no parts that are OK to skip. Instead, God desires to reveal Himself to you through the WHOLE story. Leviticus is crucial. So is Song of Solomon. So is Obadiah and Jude. And even the challenge of Revelation is a means by which God desires to reveal Himself and speak to us.
Two challenges:
1) Avoid the potluck approach. Focus on some of the content you’ve never
read before. Get some help. Find a commentary or survey which helps you better understand the summary of the book you read. Challenge your small group or Bible study or family to do this together. Be able to answer this question: How does (the book you choose) fit into God’s story? How is it an important part of His message?
2) Avoid the “mining for nuggets” approach. Sometimes we try and read between the lines of Scripture. We search for the hidden message or focus on minor details and try to make more of them than is intended. The Bible fits together and it is interesting to see how God has put his book together, but don’t look so deeply into the forest that you lose sight of how individual trees fit into the big picture.
For an overview of the story of the Bible, see Vaughan Robert’s book, “God’s Big Picture: Tracing the Storyline of the Bible.” (IVP, 2002)
Nourishment
“Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy. . .”
Can you name the song? Can you name the artist?
Sunshine is therapeutic isn’t it? It is also healthy. It helps us to function as we should. Think of what it provides for life. Without light, there would be no life. Without the sun, the plants could not survive. Neither could we.
Sunshine nourishes us. It sustains us. It warms us. It gives us direction because it enables us to see. It removes the darkness. It is constant. It is always there. (Yes, the earth moves and turns us away from the sun, but the sun does not move.) It is always there providing us with what we need for life.
I like snacks. I like junk food. I am very attracted to Krispy Kremes and DQ blizzards and juicy steaks. Why is it that so much of what I want to eat is NOT good for me? Why do things that taste so good have to be so bad?
I also am drawn to pop. I’m a fan of Mountain Dew and Coke. I’m a fan of coffee. Why do I like drinks that are not good for me? Why can’t I love an ice, cold glass of water as much as I love an ice cold can of Coke?
When we try and live on junk, we pay a price. When we live in darkness, we struggle. (Think about a month without sun during the winter months in Michigan.) When we try and live on food or drink that does not provide the nourishment we need, our bodies begin to struggle. We get fat. We get addicted. We get lazy. We get unhealthy. We get discouraged because we don’t feel good about ourselves even though we continue enjoying the taste (instant gratification) of junk.
God didn’t make health difficult to understand. He said our bodies are temples. He said everything we do should show our commitment to Him. He said we ought to model a life that others could follow. He wasn’t just talking about going to church.
We need to be fed. This nourishment is necessary for our health. When we are healthy we are much better equipped to serve Him. So in light of this we need to . . .
Eat healthy.
Rest. Sleep enough. Calm our lives down from busyness.
Exercise. We need to go places and meet people. Care for our temple.
Read God’s Word. Fill our lives with healthy words. Allow God to feed us.
Pray. Listen. An exercise of our commitment to God’s sovereignty.
Invest in people. Allow them to invest in us, to encourage our “health”.
Stop ingesting junk. (with mouth, eyes, ears, mind, etc.)
These are all acts of discipline. We give up what we want to pursue what we need.
Discipline. Short term costs leading to long term gains.
Can you name the song? Can you name the artist?
Sunshine is therapeutic isn’t it? It is also healthy. It helps us to function as we should. Think of what it provides for life. Without light, there would be no life. Without the sun, the plants could not survive. Neither could we.
Sunshine nourishes us. It sustains us. It warms us. It gives us direction because it enables us to see. It removes the darkness. It is constant. It is always there. (Yes, the earth moves and turns us away from the sun, but the sun does not move.) It is always there providing us with what we need for life.
I like snacks. I like junk food. I am very attracted to Krispy Kremes and DQ blizzards and juicy steaks. Why is it that so much of what I want to eat is NOT good for me? Why do things that taste so good have to be so bad?
I also am drawn to pop. I’m a fan of Mountain Dew and Coke. I’m a fan of coffee. Why do I like drinks that are not good for me? Why can’t I love an ice, cold glass of water as much as I love an ice cold can of Coke?
When we try and live on junk, we pay a price. When we live in darkness, we struggle. (Think about a month without sun during the winter months in Michigan.) When we try and live on food or drink that does not provide the nourishment we need, our bodies begin to struggle. We get fat. We get addicted. We get lazy. We get unhealthy. We get discouraged because we don’t feel good about ourselves even though we continue enjoying the taste (instant gratification) of junk.
God didn’t make health difficult to understand. He said our bodies are temples. He said everything we do should show our commitment to Him. He said we ought to model a life that others could follow. He wasn’t just talking about going to church.
We need to be fed. This nourishment is necessary for our health. When we are healthy we are much better equipped to serve Him. So in light of this we need to . . .
Eat healthy.
Rest. Sleep enough. Calm our lives down from busyness.
Exercise. We need to go places and meet people. Care for our temple.
Read God’s Word. Fill our lives with healthy words. Allow God to feed us.
Pray. Listen. An exercise of our commitment to God’s sovereignty.
Invest in people. Allow them to invest in us, to encourage our “health”.
Stop ingesting junk. (with mouth, eyes, ears, mind, etc.)
These are all acts of discipline. We give up what we want to pursue what we need.
Discipline. Short term costs leading to long term gains.
Springtime
Warmth. Sunshine. An open Dairy Queen. Can you just feel the joy?
The grass is turning green. The rakes are coming out. Piles of brush and debris are evidence of work in the yard. It is springtime. Yes, you still hear the die-hard, pessimist saying, “Winter is not over yet. Just you wait. We’re gonna get at least one more good pounding of snow.” These are the folks that really need a good blizzard.
So what are your plans for being outside? What do you hope to do and accomplish with the nice weather upon us? I’m sure you have some. Your list is getting longer. Your desire to play outside is increasing.
All of this is good and right. It is important for us to be outside. We all need Vitamin D. Not much is received in your typical Michigan winter. We all want to accomplish certain projects with the coming spring. And so you should.
Can you hear in my tone the BUT coming? Here it is, BUT. . . other opportunities also exist with the changing of the season that aren’t always very high on our priority list if they are on the list at all. These opportunities are all about people and not so much about projects.
The spring and summer bring people outside. It brings our neighbors outside. It gets us onto our porches and decks and into our yards. I want to encourage you to take advantage of these opportunities to . . .
- lean on your rake and talk with your neighbor.
- grill more food than you can eat and invite someone over to join you.
- initiate a neighborhood block party which helps you meet all your neighbors.
- make a list of the names of people who live around you and pray for them.
- go for a walk and intentionally meet the people who live around you. Invite them to walk with you.
- take some folks out on your boat (if you have one).
- start a walking group, gardening group, biking group, reading group, beach-goer group, grilling group, DQ support group, etc.
- help your neighbor with their yard work.
- have a free car wash in your neighborhood. Get kids involved. Hand out flyers the day before or day of. Offer cookies and lemonade while they wait.
. . . care for and love the people around you. There is no better way to invest your time.
The projects have no lasting value. People do.
The grass is turning green. The rakes are coming out. Piles of brush and debris are evidence of work in the yard. It is springtime. Yes, you still hear the die-hard, pessimist saying, “Winter is not over yet. Just you wait. We’re gonna get at least one more good pounding of snow.” These are the folks that really need a good blizzard.
So what are your plans for being outside? What do you hope to do and accomplish with the nice weather upon us? I’m sure you have some. Your list is getting longer. Your desire to play outside is increasing.
All of this is good and right. It is important for us to be outside. We all need Vitamin D. Not much is received in your typical Michigan winter. We all want to accomplish certain projects with the coming spring. And so you should.
Can you hear in my tone the BUT coming? Here it is, BUT. . . other opportunities also exist with the changing of the season that aren’t always very high on our priority list if they are on the list at all. These opportunities are all about people and not so much about projects.
The spring and summer bring people outside. It brings our neighbors outside. It gets us onto our porches and decks and into our yards. I want to encourage you to take advantage of these opportunities to . . .
- lean on your rake and talk with your neighbor.
- grill more food than you can eat and invite someone over to join you.
- initiate a neighborhood block party which helps you meet all your neighbors.
- make a list of the names of people who live around you and pray for them.
- go for a walk and intentionally meet the people who live around you. Invite them to walk with you.
- take some folks out on your boat (if you have one).
- start a walking group, gardening group, biking group, reading group, beach-goer group, grilling group, DQ support group, etc.
- help your neighbor with their yard work.
- have a free car wash in your neighborhood. Get kids involved. Hand out flyers the day before or day of. Offer cookies and lemonade while they wait.
. . . care for and love the people around you. There is no better way to invest your time.
The projects have no lasting value. People do.
Encouragement
It is interesting how encouragement is dependent upon relationships. People encourage people. It may not always come directly in a face-to-face interaction. It may come through a note or phone call. It may come through a book from an author you’ll never meet (still person to person). It may come through someone’s presence in your life. But encouragement is relationally based. Even encouragement that comes in relationship with God comes from Him - through a relationship.
Encouragement for another most often comes out of our love for that person. More often than not in my life, my greatest encouragers are not trying to encourage me. They just naturally do it out of their love for me. When they see any good in me, they tell me. When they are blessed by something God has done through me, they tell me. They are not looking for anything in return. They aren’t looking for me to say nice things about them, too.
False encouragement exists, doesn’t it? Sometimes we puff others up because we want something in return. We don’t honestly encourage. We have a hidden agenda and are willing to stroke someone’s ego so that they are more willing to give us something in return.
What is the greatest way you can encourage another person? Think about your own experiences. Who are your greatest encouragers? What is it about how they encourage you that stands out? What is it they say that makes you feel so encouraged?
Encouragement best comes from those who know us best. Because they know us, they are best equipped to know how or what we should be encouraged about. A spouse must encourage their spouse. We all need to hear consistently and honestly how we are measuring up as a spouse. Our children need to hear consistently and honestly what is good in them, how valuable they are, and how we are proud of whom they are becoming.
We all need to hear from others we are valuable, loved, and how others are blessed to have us in their life. We NEED this. Otherwise, we wonder. Thoughts come like, “What good am I?” “What value do I bring to other people’s lives?” “Do people like having me around?”
What is the greatest way to encourage another person? First, you need to care about them. Second, you need to pray for them. Third, you need to speak the truth to them about how God is using them in your life. There’s the key. We need to express to people encouraging words when we see God at work through them in our life. Too many people wonder what good they are to God. Too many people think God isn’t, won’t, or can’t use them because they are not “good” enough or they don’t pray enough or they are “spiritual” enough. NOT TRUE.
I have a little personal file I keep. Every once in a while I receive a note of encouragement that blesses me. It isn’t words “puffing up” my ego or saying how great I am. They are filled with words of encouragement about how God is at work through me in another person’s life. The credit is not mine. The glory is not mine. But I am encouraged. I am encouraged by God and His work in me and through me. My initial response is a temptation to pride, but as I consider God’s hand at work in this person’s life, I am led to humility. It is God’s doing and not my own. What an encouragement it is that God can take a broken, sinful person like me and work for good in another’s life.
If God is using another person to help you see Him, please tell them. Encourage them.
Encouragement for another most often comes out of our love for that person. More often than not in my life, my greatest encouragers are not trying to encourage me. They just naturally do it out of their love for me. When they see any good in me, they tell me. When they are blessed by something God has done through me, they tell me. They are not looking for anything in return. They aren’t looking for me to say nice things about them, too.
False encouragement exists, doesn’t it? Sometimes we puff others up because we want something in return. We don’t honestly encourage. We have a hidden agenda and are willing to stroke someone’s ego so that they are more willing to give us something in return.
What is the greatest way you can encourage another person? Think about your own experiences. Who are your greatest encouragers? What is it about how they encourage you that stands out? What is it they say that makes you feel so encouraged?
Encouragement best comes from those who know us best. Because they know us, they are best equipped to know how or what we should be encouraged about. A spouse must encourage their spouse. We all need to hear consistently and honestly how we are measuring up as a spouse. Our children need to hear consistently and honestly what is good in them, how valuable they are, and how we are proud of whom they are becoming.
We all need to hear from others we are valuable, loved, and how others are blessed to have us in their life. We NEED this. Otherwise, we wonder. Thoughts come like, “What good am I?” “What value do I bring to other people’s lives?” “Do people like having me around?”
What is the greatest way to encourage another person? First, you need to care about them. Second, you need to pray for them. Third, you need to speak the truth to them about how God is using them in your life. There’s the key. We need to express to people encouraging words when we see God at work through them in our life. Too many people wonder what good they are to God. Too many people think God isn’t, won’t, or can’t use them because they are not “good” enough or they don’t pray enough or they are “spiritual” enough. NOT TRUE.
I have a little personal file I keep. Every once in a while I receive a note of encouragement that blesses me. It isn’t words “puffing up” my ego or saying how great I am. They are filled with words of encouragement about how God is at work through me in another person’s life. The credit is not mine. The glory is not mine. But I am encouraged. I am encouraged by God and His work in me and through me. My initial response is a temptation to pride, but as I consider God’s hand at work in this person’s life, I am led to humility. It is God’s doing and not my own. What an encouragement it is that God can take a broken, sinful person like me and work for good in another’s life.
If God is using another person to help you see Him, please tell them. Encourage them.
Wisdom & Humility
How do you respond to the following quotes? Close your eyes and imagine someone saying the following words to you.
“I consider myself a man of wisdom.”
“Compared to many, I am a humble man.”
How do you respond?
Even as I write them, I get an uncomfortable pit in my stomach. There is something inherently wrong in speaking these words about oneself. To claim to be humble or wise isn’t our prerogative. We can’t claim them. Instead they can only be words used by OTHERS to describe us (if it’s true).
It is almost as if my claim to be wise trumps that statement. If I say I am wise, I prove I am not. In the same way, if I say I am humble I prove I am not.
I have heard myself say on numerous occasions that I hope when my time here is over, people will describe me as a man of wisdom and humility. But should that really be my goal? Is that really how I want to be remembered (if remembered at all)? Humility and wisdom are by-products of something much more important. They should not be the goals but inevitable results. The goal is that I followed Jesus, living for Him and loving Him. “But what about loving my neighbor?” “What about giving or reading the Bible or serving those in need?” How can you simply focus your life on God? Because that is the purpose of our existence. Living for God and loving Him with all of our lives is called something. It’s worship. The purpose of our lives is to worship the only one worthy of worship – God. All of the other stuff (loving neighbor, giving, serving, Bible reading, etc.) are by products of a life lived in worship of God. If our lives are committed to this goal, humility and wisdom result. They are not acquired through diligent effort or practice; they naturally result in one who follows God.
And here is why pride is such an ugly sin. It is the opposite of the worship of God. It is actually the worship of self. Adam and Eve started the trend and you and I struggle daily to avoid the inclination to worship oneself.
You will never find pride when you find wisdom.
You will never find pride when you find humility.
Remember when Solomon asked for wisdom and God honored Him for this very appropriate request? (I Kings 3:3-14) Did God just supernaturally give Solomon wisdom? Did Solomon acquire this on his own? No, Solomon’s wisdom came from his relationship with God. His great wisdom was a result of his great reliance on God. Wisdom did not come from Solomon. It came from God. Why did Solomon struggle and fall away from God later in his life? Pride. Wisdom departed from Solomon because he departed from God.
One who is wise doesn’t know it.
One who is humble doesn’t know it.
Those around them do.
Humility and wisdom result when we worship God and not ourselves.
The only way we can avoid pride is to live in love with the Father.
“I consider myself a man of wisdom.”
“Compared to many, I am a humble man.”
How do you respond?
Even as I write them, I get an uncomfortable pit in my stomach. There is something inherently wrong in speaking these words about oneself. To claim to be humble or wise isn’t our prerogative. We can’t claim them. Instead they can only be words used by OTHERS to describe us (if it’s true).
It is almost as if my claim to be wise trumps that statement. If I say I am wise, I prove I am not. In the same way, if I say I am humble I prove I am not.
I have heard myself say on numerous occasions that I hope when my time here is over, people will describe me as a man of wisdom and humility. But should that really be my goal? Is that really how I want to be remembered (if remembered at all)? Humility and wisdom are by-products of something much more important. They should not be the goals but inevitable results. The goal is that I followed Jesus, living for Him and loving Him. “But what about loving my neighbor?” “What about giving or reading the Bible or serving those in need?” How can you simply focus your life on God? Because that is the purpose of our existence. Living for God and loving Him with all of our lives is called something. It’s worship. The purpose of our lives is to worship the only one worthy of worship – God. All of the other stuff (loving neighbor, giving, serving, Bible reading, etc.) are by products of a life lived in worship of God. If our lives are committed to this goal, humility and wisdom result. They are not acquired through diligent effort or practice; they naturally result in one who follows God.
And here is why pride is such an ugly sin. It is the opposite of the worship of God. It is actually the worship of self. Adam and Eve started the trend and you and I struggle daily to avoid the inclination to worship oneself.
You will never find pride when you find wisdom.
You will never find pride when you find humility.
Remember when Solomon asked for wisdom and God honored Him for this very appropriate request? (I Kings 3:3-14) Did God just supernaturally give Solomon wisdom? Did Solomon acquire this on his own? No, Solomon’s wisdom came from his relationship with God. His great wisdom was a result of his great reliance on God. Wisdom did not come from Solomon. It came from God. Why did Solomon struggle and fall away from God later in his life? Pride. Wisdom departed from Solomon because he departed from God.
One who is wise doesn’t know it.
One who is humble doesn’t know it.
Those around them do.
Humility and wisdom result when we worship God and not ourselves.
The only way we can avoid pride is to live in love with the Father.
Can You Drink the Cup? - Nouwen
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling before him, she asked a favor of him. And he said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Declare that these two sons of mine will sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom." But Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?" They said to him, "We are able." He said to them, "You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left, this is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father." (Matthew 20:20-23, NRSV)
The following are excerpts from Henri Nouwen in his book, "Can You Drink the Cup?" (Ave Maria Press, 1996, 2006)
“Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?” Jesus asked his friends. They answered yes, but had no idea what he was talking about. Jesus’ cup is the cup of sorrow, not just his own sorrow but the sorrow of the whole human race. It is a cup full of physical, mental, and spiritual anguish. It is the cup of starvation, rejection, abandonment, immense anguish. It is the cup full of bitterness. Who wants to drink it? It is the cup that Isaiah calls “the cup of God’s wrath. . . (Isaiah 51:17). (39)
The cup of life is the cup of joy as much as it is the cup of sorrow. It is the cup in which sorrows and joys, sadness and gladness, mourning and dancing are never separated. If joys could not be where sorrows are, the cup of life would never be drinkable. (51)
Our cup is often so full of pain that joy seems completely unreachable. When we are crushed like grapes, we cannot think of the wine we will become. The sorrow overwhelms us, makes us throw ourselves on the ground, face down, and sweat drops of blood. Then we need to be reminded that our cup of sorrow is also our cup of joy and that one day we will be able to taste the joy as fully as we now taste the sorrow. (54)
Joys are hidden in sorrows! . . . We keep forgetting this truth and become overwhelmed by our own darkness. We easily lose sight of our joys and speak of our sorrows as the only reality there is.
We need to remind each other that the cup of sorrow is also the cup of joy, that precisely what causes us sadness can become the fertile ground for gladness. . . Because only when we fully realize that the cup of life is not only a cup of sorrow but also a cup of joy will we be able to drink it. (56)
Jesus made the cup of God’s wrath into a cup of blessings. That’s the mystery of the Eucharist. Jesus died for us so that we may live. He poured out his blood for us so that we may find new life. He gave himself away for us, so that we can live in community. He become for us food and drink so that we can be fed for everlasting life. . . The Eucharist is that sacred mystery through which what we lived as a curse we now live as a blessing. (75)
Somehow we know that when we do not drink our cup and thus avoid the sorrow as well as the joy of living, our lives become inauthentic, insincere, superficial, and boring. We become puppets moved up and down, left and right by the puppeteers of this world. We become objects, yes, victims of other people’s interests and desires. But we don’t have to be victims. We can choose to drink the cup of our life with the deep conviction that by drinking it we will find our true freedom. Thus, we will discover that the cup of sorrow and joy we are drinking is the cup of salvation. (90)
The following are excerpts from Henri Nouwen in his book, "Can You Drink the Cup?" (Ave Maria Press, 1996, 2006)
“Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?” Jesus asked his friends. They answered yes, but had no idea what he was talking about. Jesus’ cup is the cup of sorrow, not just his own sorrow but the sorrow of the whole human race. It is a cup full of physical, mental, and spiritual anguish. It is the cup of starvation, rejection, abandonment, immense anguish. It is the cup full of bitterness. Who wants to drink it? It is the cup that Isaiah calls “the cup of God’s wrath. . . (Isaiah 51:17). (39)
The cup of life is the cup of joy as much as it is the cup of sorrow. It is the cup in which sorrows and joys, sadness and gladness, mourning and dancing are never separated. If joys could not be where sorrows are, the cup of life would never be drinkable. (51)
Our cup is often so full of pain that joy seems completely unreachable. When we are crushed like grapes, we cannot think of the wine we will become. The sorrow overwhelms us, makes us throw ourselves on the ground, face down, and sweat drops of blood. Then we need to be reminded that our cup of sorrow is also our cup of joy and that one day we will be able to taste the joy as fully as we now taste the sorrow. (54)
Joys are hidden in sorrows! . . . We keep forgetting this truth and become overwhelmed by our own darkness. We easily lose sight of our joys and speak of our sorrows as the only reality there is.
We need to remind each other that the cup of sorrow is also the cup of joy, that precisely what causes us sadness can become the fertile ground for gladness. . . Because only when we fully realize that the cup of life is not only a cup of sorrow but also a cup of joy will we be able to drink it. (56)
Jesus made the cup of God’s wrath into a cup of blessings. That’s the mystery of the Eucharist. Jesus died for us so that we may live. He poured out his blood for us so that we may find new life. He gave himself away for us, so that we can live in community. He become for us food and drink so that we can be fed for everlasting life. . . The Eucharist is that sacred mystery through which what we lived as a curse we now live as a blessing. (75)
Somehow we know that when we do not drink our cup and thus avoid the sorrow as well as the joy of living, our lives become inauthentic, insincere, superficial, and boring. We become puppets moved up and down, left and right by the puppeteers of this world. We become objects, yes, victims of other people’s interests and desires. But we don’t have to be victims. We can choose to drink the cup of our life with the deep conviction that by drinking it we will find our true freedom. Thus, we will discover that the cup of sorrow and joy we are drinking is the cup of salvation. (90)
Suffering - Wolterstorff
The following are excerpts from an outstanding resource called "Lament for a Son" by Nicholas Wolterstorff (Eerdmans, 1987). Nicholas Wolterstorff lost his 25 year old son when he fell while mountain climbing in Austria.
Suffering is a mystery as deep as any in our existence. It is not of course a mystery whose reality some doubt. Suffering keeps its face hid from each while making itself known to all.
We are one in suffering. Some are wealthy, some bright; some athletic, some admired. But we all suffer. For we all prize and love; and in this present existence of ours, prizing and loving yield suffering. Love in our world is suffering love. Some do not suffer much, though, for they do not love much. Suffering is for the loving.
“This, said Jesus, is the command of the Holy One: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” In commanding us to love, God invites us to suffer. God is love. That is why he suffers. To love our suffering sinful world is to suffer. God so suffered for the world that he gave up his only Son to suffering. The one who does not see God’s suffering does not see his live. God is suffering love. (89-90)
I have come to see that the Christian gospel tells us more of the meaning of sin than of suffering. Of sin it says that its root lies not in God but in the will of the human being. It is true that an inclination toward lovelessness and injustice is not mysteriously perpetuated down through the generations. But it remains an inclination, not a necessity. Sin belongs to us. To this the gospel adds that our lovelessness pains God; it grieves him. And then the good news: God’s response to this pain is forgiveness – not avenging fury but forgiveness. Jesus Christ is the announcement: the Master of the Universe forgives.
To the “why” of suffering we get no firm answer. Of course some suffering is easily seen to be the result of our sin: war, assault, poverty amidst plenty, the hurtful word. And maybe some is chastisement. But not all. The meaning of the remainder is not told us. It eludes us. Our net of meaning is too small. There’s more to our suffering than our guilt. (74)
The Bible speaks instead of God’s overcoming death. Paul calls it the last great enemy to be overcome. God is appalled by death. My pain over my son’s death is shared by his pain over my son’s death. And, yes, I share in his pain over his son’s death. Seeing God as the agent of death is one way of fitting together into a rational pattern God, ourselves, and death. . .
I cannot fit it all together by saying, “He did it,’ but neither can I do so by saying, “There was nothing he could do about it.” I cannot fit it together at all. I can only, with Job, endure. I do not know why God did not prevent Eric’s death. To live without the answer is precarious. It’s hard to keep one’s footing.
Job’s friends tried out on him their answer. “God did it, Job; he was the agent of your children’s death. He did it because of some wickedness in you; he did it to punish you. Nothing indeed in your public life would seem to merit such retribution; it must then be something in your private inner life. Tell us what it is, Job. Confess.”
The writer of Job refuses to say that God views the lives and deaths of children as cats-o’-nine with which to lacerate parents.
I have no explanation. I can do nothing else than endure in the face of this deepest and most painful of mysteries. I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and resurrecter of Jesus Christ. I also believe that my son’s life was cut off in its prime. I cannot fit these pieces together. I am at a loss. I have read the theodicies produced to justify the ways of God to man. I find them unconvincing. To the most agonized question I have ever asked I do not know the answer. I do not know why God would watch him fall. I do not know why God would watch me wounded. I cannot even guess. (66-68)
God is not only the God of the sufferers but the God who suffers. The pain and fallenness of humanity have entered into his heart. Through the prism of my tears I have seen a suffering God.
It is said of God that no one can behold his face and live. I always thought this meant that no one could see his splendor and live. A friend said perhaps it meant that no one could see his sorrow and live. Or perhaps his sorrow is splendor.
And great mystery: to redeem our brokenness and lovelessness the God who suffers with us did not strike some mighty blow of power but sent his beloved son to suffer like us, through his suffering to redeem us from suffering and evil.
Instead of explaining our suffering God shares it.
But I never saw it. Though I confessed that the man of sorrows was God himself, I never saw the God of sorrows. Though I confessed that the man bleeding on the cross was the redeeming God, I never saw God himself on the cross, blood from sword and thorn and nail dripping healing into the world’s wounds.
What does this mean for life, that God suffers? I’m only beginning to learn. When we think of God the Creator, then we naturally see the rich and powerful of the earth as his closest image. But when we hold steady before us the sight of God the Redeemer redeeming from sin and suffering by suffering, then perhaps we must look elsewhere for earth’s closest icon. Where? Perhaps to the face of that woman with soup tin in hand and bloated child at side. Perhaps that is why Jesus said that inasmuch as we show love to such a one, we show love to him. (81-82)
Suffering is a mystery as deep as any in our existence. It is not of course a mystery whose reality some doubt. Suffering keeps its face hid from each while making itself known to all.
We are one in suffering. Some are wealthy, some bright; some athletic, some admired. But we all suffer. For we all prize and love; and in this present existence of ours, prizing and loving yield suffering. Love in our world is suffering love. Some do not suffer much, though, for they do not love much. Suffering is for the loving.
“This, said Jesus, is the command of the Holy One: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” In commanding us to love, God invites us to suffer. God is love. That is why he suffers. To love our suffering sinful world is to suffer. God so suffered for the world that he gave up his only Son to suffering. The one who does not see God’s suffering does not see his live. God is suffering love. (89-90)
I have come to see that the Christian gospel tells us more of the meaning of sin than of suffering. Of sin it says that its root lies not in God but in the will of the human being. It is true that an inclination toward lovelessness and injustice is not mysteriously perpetuated down through the generations. But it remains an inclination, not a necessity. Sin belongs to us. To this the gospel adds that our lovelessness pains God; it grieves him. And then the good news: God’s response to this pain is forgiveness – not avenging fury but forgiveness. Jesus Christ is the announcement: the Master of the Universe forgives.
To the “why” of suffering we get no firm answer. Of course some suffering is easily seen to be the result of our sin: war, assault, poverty amidst plenty, the hurtful word. And maybe some is chastisement. But not all. The meaning of the remainder is not told us. It eludes us. Our net of meaning is too small. There’s more to our suffering than our guilt. (74)
The Bible speaks instead of God’s overcoming death. Paul calls it the last great enemy to be overcome. God is appalled by death. My pain over my son’s death is shared by his pain over my son’s death. And, yes, I share in his pain over his son’s death. Seeing God as the agent of death is one way of fitting together into a rational pattern God, ourselves, and death. . .
I cannot fit it all together by saying, “He did it,’ but neither can I do so by saying, “There was nothing he could do about it.” I cannot fit it together at all. I can only, with Job, endure. I do not know why God did not prevent Eric’s death. To live without the answer is precarious. It’s hard to keep one’s footing.
Job’s friends tried out on him their answer. “God did it, Job; he was the agent of your children’s death. He did it because of some wickedness in you; he did it to punish you. Nothing indeed in your public life would seem to merit such retribution; it must then be something in your private inner life. Tell us what it is, Job. Confess.”
The writer of Job refuses to say that God views the lives and deaths of children as cats-o’-nine with which to lacerate parents.
I have no explanation. I can do nothing else than endure in the face of this deepest and most painful of mysteries. I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and resurrecter of Jesus Christ. I also believe that my son’s life was cut off in its prime. I cannot fit these pieces together. I am at a loss. I have read the theodicies produced to justify the ways of God to man. I find them unconvincing. To the most agonized question I have ever asked I do not know the answer. I do not know why God would watch him fall. I do not know why God would watch me wounded. I cannot even guess. (66-68)
God is not only the God of the sufferers but the God who suffers. The pain and fallenness of humanity have entered into his heart. Through the prism of my tears I have seen a suffering God.
It is said of God that no one can behold his face and live. I always thought this meant that no one could see his splendor and live. A friend said perhaps it meant that no one could see his sorrow and live. Or perhaps his sorrow is splendor.
And great mystery: to redeem our brokenness and lovelessness the God who suffers with us did not strike some mighty blow of power but sent his beloved son to suffer like us, through his suffering to redeem us from suffering and evil.
Instead of explaining our suffering God shares it.
But I never saw it. Though I confessed that the man of sorrows was God himself, I never saw the God of sorrows. Though I confessed that the man bleeding on the cross was the redeeming God, I never saw God himself on the cross, blood from sword and thorn and nail dripping healing into the world’s wounds.
What does this mean for life, that God suffers? I’m only beginning to learn. When we think of God the Creator, then we naturally see the rich and powerful of the earth as his closest image. But when we hold steady before us the sight of God the Redeemer redeeming from sin and suffering by suffering, then perhaps we must look elsewhere for earth’s closest icon. Where? Perhaps to the face of that woman with soup tin in hand and bloated child at side. Perhaps that is why Jesus said that inasmuch as we show love to such a one, we show love to him. (81-82)
Return
Coming back to a place you once were. Is that what it means to return?
I grew up in Fergus Falls, MN. That was my home. If I was to go back I would return to my old stomping grounds.
I long to someday go to Turkey to see the sites of the churches of the New Testament. I would not say I was returning to Turkey. I’ve never been there; how can I return?
The prodigal (Luke 15:11-32) returns home. He returns to his relationship with his father. He comes back to a place he once was. He comes back into relationship with his father.
So often the Christian faith becomes one of “going” and “doing” – the more activity the better, but there is an important balance to have. There is an important understanding to acquire. There is an important relationship to have with God that is reflected both in the busyness and work ethic of Martha and the submission and silence of Mary. (See Luke 10:38-42)
Martha gets frustrated with Mary because she sits around. However, she happens to be sitting at the feet of Jesus, being in His presence, listening to Him speak. Jesus sees Martha and all the work she is doing and chides her for her lack of interest and attention devoted to Him. She is so concerned with her own agenda and getting things done, she misses out on the opportunity and her need to spend time at the feet of Jesus.
John boy’s (my son, not the guy in the Walton’s) relationship with his mother is a good model of how we are to be with Jesus. John boy goes off and plays. He can easily get engrossed in what he is doing. But it never lasts long. He is always asking, “Where’s momma?” Usually she’s in the next room or in the same room but just out of his line of sight. He is always looking for his momma. When he gets hurt, he wants his momma. When he is hungry, he asks his momma for food. When he is angry, he even tends to take it out on his momma. When he is acting inappropriately, more often than not, she is the one to discipline him. When he is tired and wants to be held, he looks for momma.
The difference is momma can get tired of being the one to constantly meet his needs. She needs help and needs a break from his demands. Jesus doesn’t. He never tires of being there for you. He never tires of meeting the needs you have. He never tires of your seeking him out. Anytime you look for Him, He is there waiting for you. Anytime you need to return from whatever difficult place you’ve been, you are always welcomed, cared for, and given exactly what you need (in His way and in His timing).
But we can’t be Mary’s all the time. There is work to be done. There is ministry to do. God has put us here to serve Him which means getting off the floor and doing the tasks he has put before us. Those tasks are not the tasks we determine for ourselves, but instead the challenge lies in doing the work God would have us do.
Maybe it’s time to return to the feet of Jesus and rest for a while. Maybe it’s time to start doing the work He would have you do and let go of what you have thought so important. But it is always important and necessary for us to return to the feet of Jesus. We can’t stay away for very long.
I grew up in Fergus Falls, MN. That was my home. If I was to go back I would return to my old stomping grounds.
I long to someday go to Turkey to see the sites of the churches of the New Testament. I would not say I was returning to Turkey. I’ve never been there; how can I return?
The prodigal (Luke 15:11-32) returns home. He returns to his relationship with his father. He comes back to a place he once was. He comes back into relationship with his father.
So often the Christian faith becomes one of “going” and “doing” – the more activity the better, but there is an important balance to have. There is an important understanding to acquire. There is an important relationship to have with God that is reflected both in the busyness and work ethic of Martha and the submission and silence of Mary. (See Luke 10:38-42)
Martha gets frustrated with Mary because she sits around. However, she happens to be sitting at the feet of Jesus, being in His presence, listening to Him speak. Jesus sees Martha and all the work she is doing and chides her for her lack of interest and attention devoted to Him. She is so concerned with her own agenda and getting things done, she misses out on the opportunity and her need to spend time at the feet of Jesus.
John boy’s (my son, not the guy in the Walton’s) relationship with his mother is a good model of how we are to be with Jesus. John boy goes off and plays. He can easily get engrossed in what he is doing. But it never lasts long. He is always asking, “Where’s momma?” Usually she’s in the next room or in the same room but just out of his line of sight. He is always looking for his momma. When he gets hurt, he wants his momma. When he is hungry, he asks his momma for food. When he is angry, he even tends to take it out on his momma. When he is acting inappropriately, more often than not, she is the one to discipline him. When he is tired and wants to be held, he looks for momma.
The difference is momma can get tired of being the one to constantly meet his needs. She needs help and needs a break from his demands. Jesus doesn’t. He never tires of being there for you. He never tires of meeting the needs you have. He never tires of your seeking him out. Anytime you look for Him, He is there waiting for you. Anytime you need to return from whatever difficult place you’ve been, you are always welcomed, cared for, and given exactly what you need (in His way and in His timing).
But we can’t be Mary’s all the time. There is work to be done. There is ministry to do. God has put us here to serve Him which means getting off the floor and doing the tasks he has put before us. Those tasks are not the tasks we determine for ourselves, but instead the challenge lies in doing the work God would have us do.
Maybe it’s time to return to the feet of Jesus and rest for a while. Maybe it’s time to start doing the work He would have you do and let go of what you have thought so important. But it is always important and necessary for us to return to the feet of Jesus. We can’t stay away for very long.
Building Kingdoms
John (my son) has started getting into the kingdom building business. He builds his own animal kingdom. He sets up dinosaurs and other plastic animals we have in the specific ways he wants. I usually am not allowed to help. Well, every once in a while, he’ll let me play with the giraffe or zebra. I never get a triceratops. I always get the same ones. He doesn’t like it when I start messing with his little kingdom. Sometimes I move a few of the animals or suggest a new plan, but his response is quick. “No, Daddy. Stop, Daddy. You play with the zebra, Daddy.”
We are all kingdom-builders at heart. It is our nature. Now is it a part of our sinful nature or created nature? Are we kingdom builders because God has created us that way or are we kingdom builders as a result of sin?
Think about your kingdom, the kingdom you’ve built. It is good to be king. It is good to have your kingdom built the way you like it. It is good when people respect your kingdom and don’t mess with it. We all want to say to others who mess with our little kingdoms, “No. Stop. You play in your kingdom. Leave mine alone.” Sounds a lot like Genesis 11:4 where the people build the tower of Babel out of their desire to build their own kingdom.
Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth."
To answer whether kingdom-building is a God-thing or a sin-thing, just ask one, simple question, “Whose kingdom are you seeking to build?” If it is yours where you are king and have all authority, it is sin. If it is God’s and you are seeking to encourage others to come under His reign and into His kingdom, it is a God’s.
These questions pertain to the local church. Whose kingdom are we seeking to build at our church? Ours or God’s? If ours, then what matters is us and what happens here. We define success then by how we grow, how we succeed, how we look, how we matter, how we measure up to the other churches building their own kingdoms. We look at their kingdoms as competition, seeking to get in the way of what we are trying to do. We say to them, “Play in your kingdom. Leave mine alone.” (Don’t you wonder sometimes why there are so many denominations all claiming to have the right way to follow Jesus? – It’s a kingdom-building thing, isn’t it?)
We are seeking to build God’s kingdom. No, there is a better way to say it. We are seeking to submit ourselves to God so that HE CAN BUILD His kingdom through us. Us is not defined as OUR church or OUR theology or OUR denomination. Us is defined as those who follow Jesus and live for Him. If that is our perspective, other churches become brothers and sisters, family members, who are IN IT TOGETHER, SEEKING THE SAME GOAL. We are not competing. We are working together. So we strive to do that.
Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor
in vain. Psalm 127:1
We see each other as teammates. We encourage, pray for, love, and challenge each other to do what God would have us do.
Are you just as excited when a new Christian comes to faith in the Methodist church as you are when it happens here? Are you just as excited when you hear someone praising another church and its people? Are you just as excited when you hear God is moving in another church as you are when it happens here? Do you pray for, love, and long for other churches to experience God’s blessing and bear fruit for Him?
Whose kingdom are you seeking to build?
We are all kingdom-builders at heart. It is our nature. Now is it a part of our sinful nature or created nature? Are we kingdom builders because God has created us that way or are we kingdom builders as a result of sin?
Think about your kingdom, the kingdom you’ve built. It is good to be king. It is good to have your kingdom built the way you like it. It is good when people respect your kingdom and don’t mess with it. We all want to say to others who mess with our little kingdoms, “No. Stop. You play in your kingdom. Leave mine alone.” Sounds a lot like Genesis 11:4 where the people build the tower of Babel out of their desire to build their own kingdom.
Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth."
To answer whether kingdom-building is a God-thing or a sin-thing, just ask one, simple question, “Whose kingdom are you seeking to build?” If it is yours where you are king and have all authority, it is sin. If it is God’s and you are seeking to encourage others to come under His reign and into His kingdom, it is a God’s.
These questions pertain to the local church. Whose kingdom are we seeking to build at our church? Ours or God’s? If ours, then what matters is us and what happens here. We define success then by how we grow, how we succeed, how we look, how we matter, how we measure up to the other churches building their own kingdoms. We look at their kingdoms as competition, seeking to get in the way of what we are trying to do. We say to them, “Play in your kingdom. Leave mine alone.” (Don’t you wonder sometimes why there are so many denominations all claiming to have the right way to follow Jesus? – It’s a kingdom-building thing, isn’t it?)
We are seeking to build God’s kingdom. No, there is a better way to say it. We are seeking to submit ourselves to God so that HE CAN BUILD His kingdom through us. Us is not defined as OUR church or OUR theology or OUR denomination. Us is defined as those who follow Jesus and live for Him. If that is our perspective, other churches become brothers and sisters, family members, who are IN IT TOGETHER, SEEKING THE SAME GOAL. We are not competing. We are working together. So we strive to do that.
Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor
in vain. Psalm 127:1
We see each other as teammates. We encourage, pray for, love, and challenge each other to do what God would have us do.
Are you just as excited when a new Christian comes to faith in the Methodist church as you are when it happens here? Are you just as excited when you hear someone praising another church and its people? Are you just as excited when you hear God is moving in another church as you are when it happens here? Do you pray for, love, and long for other churches to experience God’s blessing and bear fruit for Him?
Whose kingdom are you seeking to build?
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Love in Conflict
Loving each other is not easy. It goes against our nature.
Some people are easier to love than others. But love is foundational to every relationship.
It is for Jesus.
Let me say again, relationships are hard. They just are. Our propensity toward selfishness makes this true. We are so prone to look out for ourselves and that keeps other people as pawns for our happiness and satisfaction. They exist for me. And that doesn’t work, does it?
One of the greatest barriers to relationships is our unwillingness to speak truth in love. Inevitably we are hurt by people. It is a given. We do it to others. They do it to us. We all experience this. We know this. But the way we respond is crucial and so often where we get off track.
Gossip, judgmentalness, denial, anger, blaming, and avoidance are all unhealthy and unproductive ways of responding when we are hurt. It doesn’t work. It doesn’t help. It breeds separation and brokenness in our relationships. But it is easy. It is the path of least resistance. So we often take it. It is a short term gain with long term losses.
The hard road is the road we have to take. It is the road of short term struggle with long term growth. It is the path of healing. It is the path of hope. It is the path of forgiveness. It is the path Christ walked. It is the path we are called to walk.
Too many of us are experiencing brokenness in our relationships because we are unwilling to walk His path.
If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. (Matthew 18:15)
This is the path of love. This is how we love each other.
The power of confession and forgiveness cannot be overemphasized. The freedom and hope that you and I have experienced in God’s forgiveness through Christ are the greatest testimony to the need to walk this path.
You are not loving someone if you follow the path of gossip, judgmentalness, denial, anger, blaming, and avoidance. It hurts you. It hurts the other person. It leads to further brokenness and separation in your relationship.
Trust God. He knows what He’s talking about. He’s not only told us, He’s shown us.
Plus, don’t you want to know? If you’ve hurt someone and they are struggling with that, don’t you want to know? Don’t you want to be able to apologize, to say you didn’t mean to hurt them? Don’t you want to confess and ask for forgiveness? It breaks my heart to know I’ve hurt someone and didn’t know it. Finding out later is so hard because you all of a sudden realize that this person has continued to experience that hurt that I’ve caused, but I didn’t know. I need to know. We need to know, so we can do and say what needs to be done and said so healing and restoration and growth can come in this relationship.
This is a non-negotiable in loving each other.
To avoid this path is to withhold love.
Some people are easier to love than others. But love is foundational to every relationship.
It is for Jesus.
Let me say again, relationships are hard. They just are. Our propensity toward selfishness makes this true. We are so prone to look out for ourselves and that keeps other people as pawns for our happiness and satisfaction. They exist for me. And that doesn’t work, does it?
One of the greatest barriers to relationships is our unwillingness to speak truth in love. Inevitably we are hurt by people. It is a given. We do it to others. They do it to us. We all experience this. We know this. But the way we respond is crucial and so often where we get off track.
Gossip, judgmentalness, denial, anger, blaming, and avoidance are all unhealthy and unproductive ways of responding when we are hurt. It doesn’t work. It doesn’t help. It breeds separation and brokenness in our relationships. But it is easy. It is the path of least resistance. So we often take it. It is a short term gain with long term losses.
The hard road is the road we have to take. It is the road of short term struggle with long term growth. It is the path of healing. It is the path of hope. It is the path of forgiveness. It is the path Christ walked. It is the path we are called to walk.
Too many of us are experiencing brokenness in our relationships because we are unwilling to walk His path.
If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. (Matthew 18:15)
This is the path of love. This is how we love each other.
The power of confession and forgiveness cannot be overemphasized. The freedom and hope that you and I have experienced in God’s forgiveness through Christ are the greatest testimony to the need to walk this path.
You are not loving someone if you follow the path of gossip, judgmentalness, denial, anger, blaming, and avoidance. It hurts you. It hurts the other person. It leads to further brokenness and separation in your relationship.
Trust God. He knows what He’s talking about. He’s not only told us, He’s shown us.
Plus, don’t you want to know? If you’ve hurt someone and they are struggling with that, don’t you want to know? Don’t you want to be able to apologize, to say you didn’t mean to hurt them? Don’t you want to confess and ask for forgiveness? It breaks my heart to know I’ve hurt someone and didn’t know it. Finding out later is so hard because you all of a sudden realize that this person has continued to experience that hurt that I’ve caused, but I didn’t know. I need to know. We need to know, so we can do and say what needs to be done and said so healing and restoration and growth can come in this relationship.
This is a non-negotiable in loving each other.
To avoid this path is to withhold love.
God's love
For many of us, we’ve lived our lives trying to earn people’s love and respect. We have. We’ve tried to accomplish so our Moms and Dads would affirm us. We’ve acted certain ways so our friends would accept us and want to be with us. We’ve learned that this life is all about earning your way – becoming what you need to be to receive the affirmation and love we’ve been created for. Even with God, we often have felt that His love is really conditional. He loves you when you do what He says. He loves you when you don’t sin. Too often, the Church has often promoted this understanding of God’s love.
You can see why so many churches have gone down the path of legalism. Legalism means elevating man-made traditions to the authority of Scripture. The Pharisees did it. We are tempted to do it, too. It makes everything black and white. If you do certain things, God is happy with you. If you don’t, then God is mad at you.
But the following statements are true, and I would venture to guess, they are more important for us to know and believe than so often how the culture tells us to live (even the culture of the church at times).
1. God loves you right now for who you are right now.
God’s love is not a love you get more of when you live right. It is not conditional. Whether you live for Him or for yourself, God’s love for you does not change.
2. He longs for you to experience His love.
He wants you to know His love not just in mind but in experience.
3. God’s love is seen in His desire to help you avoid the consequences of sin.
He knows what it does to you and it breaks His heart. He does not want you to experience sin – not for His sake, but for yours.
4. God longs for you to grow in His love.
God knows that when we grow in our relationship with Him, we are more aware of His love. It is not that His love changes, but we become more aware. We learn to live in His love and let go of our temptation to find this love in other places. We learn that He is the source of love, and our most important relationship is with Him.
5. God is not mad at you.
We’ve learned that when people get mad, they withhold love. They hold it against us when they are mad. We’ve experienced that and we’ve done it to others. God never withholds His love. His frustration/anger are always directed in a way to help us recognize and experience His love. He always takes the consequences of our sin (or the sin of others) and seeks to help it be used for good. And that good is always to be drawn to Him. That is why REMEMBER is such an important word of faith. We forget Him. We forget His love. We forget what we really need. We forget the amazing ways God has sought to express His love, so He tries to help us remember. And sometimes that happens in the midst of the consequences of living outside of His plan (ex. prodigal son).
Does He want us to experience pain and loss and suffering? No. But He will work through pain and loss and suffering to help us remember and return home – where we need to be - where we are loved – where we are known – where there is encouragement to grow.
6. God will always forgive when you confess.
There is no unlovable person. There is NOTHING that you have done or have had done to you, that will keep God from loving you. He always has. He always will. Even in the midst of your sin, His love was a constant. AND God’s forgiveness is perfect. When He forgives, it is gone.
He never looks at you as tainted because of your sin. He never sees you as less than He created you to be, and God doesn’t mess up.
Is this the God you know? Is this the God you believe in? Is this the God who you live with and for? Do you really know His love? Don’t just know it in words or phrases that you’ve heard in the church, know it is true and is found in relationship with Him. He longs for you to not only believe but experience it. He longs for you to experience the freedom in knowing the Truth and knowing the Truth is a relationship not an adherence to doctrine. It is Jesus – a living, active person (fully God – fully human) who is with you now.
You can see why so many churches have gone down the path of legalism. Legalism means elevating man-made traditions to the authority of Scripture. The Pharisees did it. We are tempted to do it, too. It makes everything black and white. If you do certain things, God is happy with you. If you don’t, then God is mad at you.
But the following statements are true, and I would venture to guess, they are more important for us to know and believe than so often how the culture tells us to live (even the culture of the church at times).
1. God loves you right now for who you are right now.
God’s love is not a love you get more of when you live right. It is not conditional. Whether you live for Him or for yourself, God’s love for you does not change.
2. He longs for you to experience His love.
He wants you to know His love not just in mind but in experience.
3. God’s love is seen in His desire to help you avoid the consequences of sin.
He knows what it does to you and it breaks His heart. He does not want you to experience sin – not for His sake, but for yours.
4. God longs for you to grow in His love.
God knows that when we grow in our relationship with Him, we are more aware of His love. It is not that His love changes, but we become more aware. We learn to live in His love and let go of our temptation to find this love in other places. We learn that He is the source of love, and our most important relationship is with Him.
5. God is not mad at you.
We’ve learned that when people get mad, they withhold love. They hold it against us when they are mad. We’ve experienced that and we’ve done it to others. God never withholds His love. His frustration/anger are always directed in a way to help us recognize and experience His love. He always takes the consequences of our sin (or the sin of others) and seeks to help it be used for good. And that good is always to be drawn to Him. That is why REMEMBER is such an important word of faith. We forget Him. We forget His love. We forget what we really need. We forget the amazing ways God has sought to express His love, so He tries to help us remember. And sometimes that happens in the midst of the consequences of living outside of His plan (ex. prodigal son).
Does He want us to experience pain and loss and suffering? No. But He will work through pain and loss and suffering to help us remember and return home – where we need to be - where we are loved – where we are known – where there is encouragement to grow.
6. God will always forgive when you confess.
There is no unlovable person. There is NOTHING that you have done or have had done to you, that will keep God from loving you. He always has. He always will. Even in the midst of your sin, His love was a constant. AND God’s forgiveness is perfect. When He forgives, it is gone.
He never looks at you as tainted because of your sin. He never sees you as less than He created you to be, and God doesn’t mess up.
Is this the God you know? Is this the God you believe in? Is this the God who you live with and for? Do you really know His love? Don’t just know it in words or phrases that you’ve heard in the church, know it is true and is found in relationship with Him. He longs for you to not only believe but experience it. He longs for you to experience the freedom in knowing the Truth and knowing the Truth is a relationship not an adherence to doctrine. It is Jesus – a living, active person (fully God – fully human) who is with you now.
Compassion - Buechner & Nouwen
The following are excerpts on compassion from two of my favorite authors. First, Fredrick Buechner in his book, Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC (Harper & Row, 1973), and second, Henri Nouwen, along with Donald McNeil & Douglas Morrison in their book, Compassion: A Reflection on the Christian Life (Doubleday, 1982).
Compassion is the sometimes fatal capacity for feeling what it’s like to live in somebody else’s skin.
It is the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too.
(Buechner, Wishful Thinking, p. 15)
. . . what about the cures? Did not the blind see, the lepers become pure, the paralyzed walk again, and the widow see her son come back to life? Is this not what counts? Is that not what proves that God is God and he really loves us? Let us be very careful with our pragmatism. It was out of his compassion that Jesus’ healing emerged. He did not cure to prove, to impress, or to convince. His cures were the natural expression of his being our God. The mystery of God’s love is not that he takes our pains away, but that he first wants to share them with us. . . The great mystery is not the cures, but the infinite compassion which is their source.
(Nouwen, Compassion, p. 18)
Jesus’ command, “Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate,” is a command to participate in the compassion of God himself. He requires us to unmask the illusion of our competitive selfhood, to give up clinging to our imaginary distinctions as sources of identity, and to be taken up into the same intimacy with God which he himself knows. This is the mystery of the Christian life: to receive a new self, a new identity, which depends not on what we can achieve, but on what we are willing to receive.
(Nouwen, p. 20-21)
Jesus’ compassion is characterized by a downward pull. That is what disturbs us. We cannot even think about ourselves in terms other than those of an upward pull, an upward mobility in which we strive for better lives, higher salaries, and more prestigious positions. . . Instead of striving for a higher position, more power, and more influence, Jesus moves, as Karl Barth says, from “the heights to the depth, from victory to defeat, from riches to poverty, from triumph to suffering, from life to death.” Jesus’ whole life and mission involve accepting powerlessness and revealing in this powerlessness the limitlessness of God’s love. Here we see what compassion means. It is not a bending toward the underprivileged from a privileged position; it is not a reaching out from on high to those who are less fortunate below; it is not a gesture of sympathy or pity for those who fail to make it in the upward pull. On the contrary, compassion means going directly to those people and places where suffering is most acute and building a home there. God’s compassion is total, absolute, unconditional, without reservation. It is the compassion of one who keeps going to the most forgotten corners of the world, and who cannot rest as long as he knows that there are still human beings with tears in their eyes. It is the compassion of a God who does not merely act as a servant, but whose servanthood is a direct expression of his divinity.
(Nouwen, p. 27)
Radical servanthood is not an enterprise in which we try and surround ourselves with as much misery as possible, but a joyful way of life in which our eyes our opened to the vision of the true God who chose the way of servanthood to make himself known. The poor are called blessed not because poverty is good, but because theirs in the kingdom of heaven; the mourners are called blessed not because mourning is good, but because they shall be comforted.
Here we are touching the profound spiritual truth that service is an expression of the search for God and not just of the desire to bring about individual or social change. This is open to all sorts of misunderstanding, but its truth is confirmed in the lives of those for whom service is a constant and uninterrupted concern. As long as the help we offer to others is motivated primarily by the changes we may accomplish, our service cannot last long. When results do not appear, when success is absent, when we are no longer liked or praised for what we do, we lose the strength and motivation to continue. When we see nothing but sad, poor, sick, or miserable people who, even after our many attempts to offer help, remain sad, poor, sick, and miserable, then the only reasonable response is to move away in order to prevent ourselves from becoming cynical or depressed. Radical servanthood challenges us, while attempting persistently to overcome poverty, hunger, illness, and any other form of human misery, to reveal the gentle presence of our compassionate God in the midst of our broken world.
(Nouwen, p. 31-32)
Compassion is the sometimes fatal capacity for feeling what it’s like to live in somebody else’s skin.
It is the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too.
(Buechner, Wishful Thinking, p. 15)
. . . what about the cures? Did not the blind see, the lepers become pure, the paralyzed walk again, and the widow see her son come back to life? Is this not what counts? Is that not what proves that God is God and he really loves us? Let us be very careful with our pragmatism. It was out of his compassion that Jesus’ healing emerged. He did not cure to prove, to impress, or to convince. His cures were the natural expression of his being our God. The mystery of God’s love is not that he takes our pains away, but that he first wants to share them with us. . . The great mystery is not the cures, but the infinite compassion which is their source.
(Nouwen, Compassion, p. 18)
Jesus’ command, “Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate,” is a command to participate in the compassion of God himself. He requires us to unmask the illusion of our competitive selfhood, to give up clinging to our imaginary distinctions as sources of identity, and to be taken up into the same intimacy with God which he himself knows. This is the mystery of the Christian life: to receive a new self, a new identity, which depends not on what we can achieve, but on what we are willing to receive.
(Nouwen, p. 20-21)
Jesus’ compassion is characterized by a downward pull. That is what disturbs us. We cannot even think about ourselves in terms other than those of an upward pull, an upward mobility in which we strive for better lives, higher salaries, and more prestigious positions. . . Instead of striving for a higher position, more power, and more influence, Jesus moves, as Karl Barth says, from “the heights to the depth, from victory to defeat, from riches to poverty, from triumph to suffering, from life to death.” Jesus’ whole life and mission involve accepting powerlessness and revealing in this powerlessness the limitlessness of God’s love. Here we see what compassion means. It is not a bending toward the underprivileged from a privileged position; it is not a reaching out from on high to those who are less fortunate below; it is not a gesture of sympathy or pity for those who fail to make it in the upward pull. On the contrary, compassion means going directly to those people and places where suffering is most acute and building a home there. God’s compassion is total, absolute, unconditional, without reservation. It is the compassion of one who keeps going to the most forgotten corners of the world, and who cannot rest as long as he knows that there are still human beings with tears in their eyes. It is the compassion of a God who does not merely act as a servant, but whose servanthood is a direct expression of his divinity.
(Nouwen, p. 27)
Radical servanthood is not an enterprise in which we try and surround ourselves with as much misery as possible, but a joyful way of life in which our eyes our opened to the vision of the true God who chose the way of servanthood to make himself known. The poor are called blessed not because poverty is good, but because theirs in the kingdom of heaven; the mourners are called blessed not because mourning is good, but because they shall be comforted.
Here we are touching the profound spiritual truth that service is an expression of the search for God and not just of the desire to bring about individual or social change. This is open to all sorts of misunderstanding, but its truth is confirmed in the lives of those for whom service is a constant and uninterrupted concern. As long as the help we offer to others is motivated primarily by the changes we may accomplish, our service cannot last long. When results do not appear, when success is absent, when we are no longer liked or praised for what we do, we lose the strength and motivation to continue. When we see nothing but sad, poor, sick, or miserable people who, even after our many attempts to offer help, remain sad, poor, sick, and miserable, then the only reasonable response is to move away in order to prevent ourselves from becoming cynical or depressed. Radical servanthood challenges us, while attempting persistently to overcome poverty, hunger, illness, and any other form of human misery, to reveal the gentle presence of our compassionate God in the midst of our broken world.
(Nouwen, p. 31-32)
Open Spaces
You can find out a lot about a person by how they handle parking their car in a busy and full parking lot. So what about you? Do you circle and circle and circle until you have a spot within 100 feet of the door? Or do you pull in the first spot you find even though it’s a quarter of a mile from the store? Or do you circle once, give up, and end up out in the hinterland? Or do you turn to God and demand He find you a spot, thank Him when He does, and see the whole process as either an encouragement in your faith or raises serious doubts when “the space” does not appear? Or does it become an opportunity for marital strife if you are not alone in the car and receiving direction as to what you should do?
You didn’t realize there was so much you could learn in a parking lot, did you?
Regardless of your approach to parking, we are all looking for the same thing – an open space. A space we can call home for our car. We are encouraged when we find one, discouraged when we don’t.
I have been greatly blessed by open spaces (not in the parking lot, however). In fact, these open spaces I’ve experienced have been a means of grace and love. I’ve found these open spaces in people’s lives. There was a place for me to “park,” to call home. It wasn’t so much a place but a relationship.
As my family fell apart during a family crisis, a friend opened his life to me and invited me in. He let me be a part of his family without expectations. He loved me (and my family) through a very difficult time in our lives. He was always available. He didn’t force me to talk or share, but he’d listen when I was ready to do so. He loved me by making space in his life for me.
When I moved to the mission field, I mean, Michigan, I came alone - me and my 1977 Ford LTD. I was 22 and trying to figure out what it meant to be a youth minister, an adult, and involved in the lives of junior high and senior high students. One family in particular invited me into their space. I became part of the family. I ate meals with them, went on vacation with them, and was always welcome to come over and raid the fridge. And once again, the space I was invited into was their lives. Once again, there were no hidden agendas or expectations, just the freedom to be me WITHIN their family.
A few years later I house-sat for a family. It was to be for three weeks and I ended up staying four years. An open space was made for me and I was invited to stay. It was so much more than a room and a bed. I was invited into this family’s life. I became part of their family. I still am today.
Do you have open spaces in your life for others? Are we willing to not only give some of your stuff but to give your time, your ear, your family? Are we willing to make space for new relationships?
People are looking for open spaces. Most often, they don’t find them. The lot seems full and they become discouraged. Sadly, even those who follow the great space-maker, Jesus Christ, get our lives so full with our stuff and our friends and our agendas that we don’t have space. So people drive on by.
Open a space at your dinner table. This is a very simple and practical way to invite someone into your life – have them over for a meal. There are people in your life, whom you know, who are spending a lot of time driving around a full parking lot. What will they find when they drive by your space? Is there room for them?
_________
The idea for a title came from a book I recently read by Jim Palmer, Wide Open Spaces (Thomas Nelson, 2007). Definitely worth reading.
You didn’t realize there was so much you could learn in a parking lot, did you?
Regardless of your approach to parking, we are all looking for the same thing – an open space. A space we can call home for our car. We are encouraged when we find one, discouraged when we don’t.
I have been greatly blessed by open spaces (not in the parking lot, however). In fact, these open spaces I’ve experienced have been a means of grace and love. I’ve found these open spaces in people’s lives. There was a place for me to “park,” to call home. It wasn’t so much a place but a relationship.
As my family fell apart during a family crisis, a friend opened his life to me and invited me in. He let me be a part of his family without expectations. He loved me (and my family) through a very difficult time in our lives. He was always available. He didn’t force me to talk or share, but he’d listen when I was ready to do so. He loved me by making space in his life for me.
When I moved to the mission field, I mean, Michigan, I came alone - me and my 1977 Ford LTD. I was 22 and trying to figure out what it meant to be a youth minister, an adult, and involved in the lives of junior high and senior high students. One family in particular invited me into their space. I became part of the family. I ate meals with them, went on vacation with them, and was always welcome to come over and raid the fridge. And once again, the space I was invited into was their lives. Once again, there were no hidden agendas or expectations, just the freedom to be me WITHIN their family.
A few years later I house-sat for a family. It was to be for three weeks and I ended up staying four years. An open space was made for me and I was invited to stay. It was so much more than a room and a bed. I was invited into this family’s life. I became part of their family. I still am today.
Do you have open spaces in your life for others? Are we willing to not only give some of your stuff but to give your time, your ear, your family? Are we willing to make space for new relationships?
People are looking for open spaces. Most often, they don’t find them. The lot seems full and they become discouraged. Sadly, even those who follow the great space-maker, Jesus Christ, get our lives so full with our stuff and our friends and our agendas that we don’t have space. So people drive on by.
Open a space at your dinner table. This is a very simple and practical way to invite someone into your life – have them over for a meal. There are people in your life, whom you know, who are spending a lot of time driving around a full parking lot. What will they find when they drive by your space? Is there room for them?
_________
The idea for a title came from a book I recently read by Jim Palmer, Wide Open Spaces (Thomas Nelson, 2007). Definitely worth reading.
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